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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30042159">The Greatest Piece</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mitzaki10/pseuds/Mitzaki10'>Mitzaki10</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supergirl (TV 2015)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Crime Fighting, F/F, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Murder, References to Abuse, References to Addiction, Smut, Thriller</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 01:40:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>24,172</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30042159</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mitzaki10/pseuds/Mitzaki10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Detective Kara Danvers has hit a dead end in the hunt for the Midvale Ripper, a notorious serial killer who has been terrorising Midvale and National City. The case is blown wide open when a mysterious Dr Lena Smith escapes the Ripper's clutches. The problem is that Dr Lena Smith doesn't exist. Can Kara work out who this mysterious woman is and solve the case? Can Kara navigate her feelings and get the girl?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kara Danvers &amp; Lena Luthor, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>161</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Am I Dead?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>There are adult themes in this, its a story about a serial killer... but its no more graphic than Criminal Minds, Bones, Rizzoli &amp; Isles, or any other shows like that. Smut in the last chapter.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lena's ears were ringing and the smell of smoke burned her nostrils. Everything was cold and dark, she was numb and she felt she couldn't move. Her eyes opened but her world was bathed in black. Closing her eyes she resigned herself to settle back into the darkness. Death was not nearly as scary as she thought it would be, and she was content to stay cocooned in its cool embrace forever. At least it would be quick. She had always believed, since she was 7 years old, she would die at the hands of her brother and it would be slow, painful, torturous but this was entirely different to how she expected. She was just cold.</p>
<p>Lena knew pain. It had been her bedfellow for nearly two decades, laying its claim to her body and mind. When the physical pain stopped and the marks faded, the mental pain hunted her like a hungry dog. She spent many a night searching for peace at the bottom of a bottle, between the legs of a lover, at the butt of a joint, or the prick of a needle. No drug and certainly no woman could chase the nightmares away, and Lena found solace and sobriety in her work, which became her life and passion. It had been years since Lena was unable to have a drink with colleagues for fear of losing control again, years since she had ever felt the touch of another woman, but she found comfort in her research. Using the only good thing the Luthor’s ever gave her, her intelligence, as a force for good in the world. Despite this, she could never truly escape the pain, the fear that he would find her, the whispers that Lena was not as she seemed. Maybe if she stayed there, in the dark, the pain would no longer torment her. The whispers, the flashbacks, the nightmares, perhaps they would all cease. Perhaps she would descend into blissful nothingness.</p>
<p>It is clear destiny had other plans and she was ripped from the darkness by a cool hand cruelly gripping her bicep. The hand was attempting to pull her from the wreck of bent metal and plastic but was thwarted by a long shard of steel impaled into her leg and into her seat. The pain returned with a vengeance, as if punishing Lena for trying to slip away from its grasp. A scream was ripped from Lena’s chest, it was deafening even for her, and her throat burned as her body switched into survival mode. Her heart beat wildly, pushing adrenalin through her veins, sharpening her focus to try and identify the man who was pulling her out of the vehicle. At first all she could hear was the grunting of exertion coming from his lips. Recognition spiked fear as a flashback her brother straddled over her, hips moving rhythmically, whilst similar grunts escaped from his throat floated before her eyes. She shook the memory away and tried to focus her vision to make out the man in front of her. He had aged 11 years since she last saw him, lost his hair and had grown a beard, so it took her a moment to recognise him but she would have recognised those cold blue eyes anywhere. Lex’s eyes were cruel, the only expressions that Lena had ever seen in them were anger, hate and lust. His eyes, staring down at her as he hurt her, haunted her nightmares and stared at her from the darkness. As a result, she had spent the whole of her life avoiding the colour blue, unable to shake the emotion it provoked in her.</p>
<p>She tried to piece together how he could have found her but all she could remember was the flash of headlights before the darkness took over. She could only deduce that he must have ran her off the road. He was trying to pull out the metal which was impaling her thigh, ripping and tearing the muscle and skin it was imbedded into. She was losing too much blood, and if he was not careful he would nick a major artery and then she would be dead within minutes. He appeared to realise this too and clearly he wanted her death to be slow. Her screams died into weak sobs as she realised she was too weak to move or push him away, and her vision was swimming in and out of focus. She felt his cold grip on her throat as he pulled her forward, his fingers digging into the soft flesh hard enough to block the air into her lungs and to leave bruises.</p>
<p>"Hello my pet. I have been waiting a long time for you. You and I had something good didn't we. But you had to ruin it by leaving. None of the others could ever match up to you." He grinned wickedly as another surge of adrenalin flowed through her, giving her enough energy to begin to weakly struggle against his grip.</p>
<p>"I have a new game now to try with you. We better make it good because you'll only be able to play it once." He flicked a knife open and pressed it against her cheek, leaving a small cut and blood seeping from the wound.</p>
<p>"Stay alive for me slut. I will be back for you"</p>
<p>He pushed away from her, hate filled eyes staring down at her for a moment, before he pulled his phone out of his pocket. As he spoke on the phone, Lena broke down and sobbed, slowly feeling cold seep through her body. She sat there crying in her seat as she watched him walk away until she was left alone on the empty road, no one around to hear her screams. Her cries turned into hiccups as the darkness crept to claim her once again.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>911 what's your emergency?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>There's been a crash on Mercy Lane. Female trapped in the vehicle. She's bleeding out. You might want to get there soon if you want her to live.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Sir what's your name? And what about the driver of the other vehicle?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Hurry now</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Sir? Sir?</em>
</p>
<p>-dial tone-</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>All units be advised report of a possible RTC on Mercy Lane. Caller was an unidentified male but his voice profile matches that of the Midvale Ripper. Units to respond.</em>
</p>
<p>Kara's hand shot to her radio in its cradle and opened a line to dispatch "This is Officer 78737 responding. I am at the corner of Lake and Fifth."</p>
<p>
  <em>Roger. EMT's will arrive shortly after you.</em>
</p>
<p>"EMT's? She’s alive?"</p>
<p>
  <em>Affirmative. Or she was when the call was made. Her cries could be heard on the phone. Be careful little Danvers, the suspect is still at large. Captain will have my head if you don't make it back in one piece.</em>
</p>
<p>Kara chuckled "10-4, out." She flicked on her blues and two's and spun the wheel of her cruiser to start towards Mercy Lane.</p>
<p>The Midvale ripper had been terrorising the small town of Midvale, situated just on the outskirts of National City, for 11 years. Her sister had spent 9 years hunting him until she was made Captain of the precinct and she passed the torch to Kara. Kara had been the Lead Detective for two years and had exhausted every lead, re-examined every piece of evidence, and conducted every test she could in order to find some clue as to who the killer was. She quickly became consumed by the case, her hatred for the man who tortured, raped and killed the women of the town being the one thing that motivated her above all else. Kara had read of how the press could be used to enter into a line of communication with serial killers, which had later led to their arrest, so Kara had decided 18 months ago to test this out. Her plan had been relatively successful, and the task force quickly began receiving dozens of supposed letters from the Ripper. Almost all of them were debunked, with those identified has having sent in fake letters being charged with wasting police time and resources. However, seven letters appeared to be genuine as they had details about previous murders that had not been released to the general public. Including the word ‘MINE’ carved in the skin of all the victims ribs just under their left breast and a burn on the jut of the victim’s right hip.</p>
<p>These letters had been clean of forensic evidence, such as DNA or fingerprints, but had provided Kara with insight on the Rippers motivations and had presented new leads for her to follow by taking handwriting samples from all the willing men of Midvale. This narrowed the pool of suspects considerably every time a man was ruled out as a suspect.</p>
<p>Two months ago, a package had arrived addressed to the detective which contained nothing but a small cassette tape for an old fashioned Dictaphone. When playing it, clear as day, the voice of the Ripper could be heard. The recording was hours long, and she had stayed up until the wee hours listening to every grisly word. He told the story of a woman, a beautiful woman with alabaster skin, raven hair, a birthmark on her right hip and forest green eyes. The victim sounded young, around the age of his earlier victims, which had aged with him. Kara suspected that this was his first victim, the one who inspired it all, and that her body was yet to be found. This woman clearly had spent years being held captive by him and tortured, as he described the ‘games’ he would play, using her body as a model to ‘refine his craft’. He saw himself as an artist and this woman his canvas. His words sickened her to the bone and her heart bled for the woman - what she must have suffered at his hand. Some of his behaviour with his other victims began to become clearer, as it was clear he was trying to recreate his ‘greatest piece’ with the other women, even going to far as to burn their hips to recreate her birthmark.</p>
<p>She began dreaming of this woman and Alex often only half joking that she had become as obsessed as the Ripper had. Kara had laughed off her concerns but all the while being driven by the belief that it was her destiny to find peace for this woman, even if it was only in death.</p>
<p>The report that he had left a victim alive, even going so far as to call the police to come out to find her, was concerning. It was a sharp break from his usual pattern and she couldn’t help but wonder what was so different about this victim. She pondered the possibilities as she drove towards Mercy Lane. As she rounded the corner her heart clenched at the scene before her. The twisted remains of a silver Mercedes Benz lay steaming near a beaten up old panel van. The van was not nearly as damaged as the Merc, and it’s engine and headlights were still running with the drivers’ door open. She sat frozen in her cruiser as she surveyed the scene, her parents had died in a car crash before she was adopted by the Danvers and scenes such as this always brought back unwanted memories. Shaking off her momentary paralysis she turned off the engine, opened the door and began to approach the van. The cab was empty, as well as the back, and Kara suspected that the Ripper had been the one to drive the van. A small sob brought Kara’s attention back to the other vehicle, a woman was slumped over the steering wheel, her body hanging loosely towards the open door, as if the Ripper had attempted to pull her out.</p>
<p>“Ma’am? Police?” Kara shouted to the driver, more out of a precaution that the Ripper might still be in the vicinity rather than a fear this woman might pose a threat to her. There was no response from the woman and Kara did a quick sweep to ensure they were alone before approaching.</p>
<p>She noted the bruising on the woman’s neck, wrist and arm when she tried to check for a pulse. It was weak and thready but it was there, she was alive. The woman matched the Rippers victimology exactly, her long hair a deep brown, almost black in the low lighting and her skin pale, made paler by the blood loss. Her skin was cold to the touch but soft and silky and even covered in cuts and bruises the woman was beautiful, ethereal even. She radioed in notifying dispatch that she had arrived on scene, cleared the area and confirmed the woman was still alive. She brushed the dark hair from in front of her face and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Ma'am can you hear me? Ma'am can you open your eyes?"</p>
<p>The woman's brow furrowed and her eyes fluttered open to reveal stunning emerald green eyes with gold flecks which took Kara's breath away. Some forgotten memory itched in the back of Kara's mind and she found herself searching for the answer in her eyes. It appeared to take a moment for the woman to be able to focus enough to register Kara’s presence, but when she did her eyes widened and her head snapped back in fear.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Lena felt a warm presence in front of her and the sound of a woman’s voice calling to her. She couldn’t make out what she was saying and it sounded like Lena was listening to her with her head submerged underwater. She forced her eyes open and blinked to focus on the presence in front of her. The first thing she noticed was blue eyes, which caused an involuntary visceral response, her body and mind wanting to get as far away from those eyes as possible. Her head snapped back and she whacked it on the headrest, causing her to jolt further into consciousness, and she realised that the only similarities these eyes held was the colour. The eyes sparkled in the low light and held a warmth to them. Where Lex’s eyes were like ice, these eyes were like the sky on a warm summers day. Kindness and concern radiated from them and the soft crinkles reflected years of happiness and laughter rather than the hard scowls that Lex’s had. Thick glasses framed them, giving the woman a soft, intelligent look. Perhaps blue wasn’t such a bad colour after all.</p>
<p>She appraised the owner of the eyes in more detail and found herself looking at the face of an angel. The warmth didn’t end at her eyes, and was radiating from every pore, every line of this woman’s face. She had long, almost golden, hair with soft features and full lips. The residual fear leaked out of her and she immediately relaxed, instantly feeling safe, somehow knowing this woman would never hurt her. Perhaps she had died? Lex would be pissed. She giggled at the thought of thwarting his plan and the angel’s face lit up with a smile that shone as bright as the sun itself. “Is this heaven?” she mumbled tiredness overtaking her suddenly and causing her eyes to become heavy.</p>
<p>A small snort and a soft laugh rumbled from the woman and Lena’s eyes opened again to refocus on the beauty in front of her. “It’s not heaven no.” The woman looked down at Lena’s leg and winced before looking back up, her perfect brow crinkled with compassion and concern “I’m just going to put some pressure on this is that okay?”. Lena nodded and rested her head back in her seat and watched as the woman untucked her shirt and ripped a large chunk off the bottom leaving a sliver of chiselled midriff in view. Lena’s mouth went instantly dry and she surprisingly found herself aroused despite the pain she was in. That quickly dissipated when the woman pressed the fabric around the wound and she hissed in pain.</p>
<p>Lena’s mind was foggy and she couldn’t collect her thoughts enough to be able to decide whether or not she was indeed dead or dying. She decided to ask her angel to clear it up for her “I hurt” she pouted a little causing the blue eyes to fill with mirth and some other unidentifiable emotion. Deciding to ignore it she continued “am I dying? Is that why they’ve sent an angel? Does this mean the nuns at school were right? God I will be so pissed if they are…” she trailed off realising that she was babbling and probably sounded delirious.</p>
<p>“Angel?” the woman looked around and behind her before looking back to Lena with confusion.  </p>
<p>She hummed fighting the heaviness of her eyelids “mmm yeah. No human is that beautiful” the woman turned around as if looking to see if Lena was referring to someone else. Her head whipped back around and she pointed her finger to her chest.</p>
<p>“Are you talking about me?” her voice sounded incredulous, as if the angel had no idea of her beauty, and her eyebrows were raised almost to her hairline. Lena was losing her battle to her exhaustion so she just smiled and closed her eyes, nodding her head slightly. As her eyes closed her ears picked up the sound of sirens in the distance.</p>
<p>Soft fingers touched her cheek and electricity sparked across Lena’s skin at the touch “no no, no. Come on, keep those pretty eyes on me” the woman said softly, concern laced through her voice. The fingers moved to her jaw, stroking small circles on the soft skin of her neck and jaw just below her earlobe.</p>
<p>Lena would do anything the angel asked of her, especially if she could keep getting those soft touches, but her lids were so heavy and her head felt like it was nodding forward, unable to stay straight any longer. Lena snapped her head up and she had to keep blinking to keep her eyes open “Y…hink m’ pretty?” Despite how desperate she was to keep her eyes open like she had been asked to, the darkness was seeping into her vision once more, even her tongue was becoming heavy and she knew she did not have much longer before it took her. </p>
<p>A soft smile spread across the woman’s face “the prettiest. Now I need you to stay awake for me okay?” Lena nodded lightly “What’s your name?” she asked.</p>
<p>She could barely open her mouth anymore to speak “Lena” she croaked. Her hand automatically twitched as if she had attempted to move it in order to shake the woman’s hand, but her limbs would not respond.</p>
<p>The woman’s thumb continued to stroke Lena’s cheek, her fingers still scratching underneath Lena’s earlobe. “Nice to meet you Lena. I’m Kara”. Kara. Lena wanted to say her name, wanted to roll it around on her tongue, feel how it would sound coming out of her lips, but she was far too gone to be able to control what was coming out of her mouth. As she felt the darkness creep to take away her vision she took one last look at her angel, her Kara. She felt a strong attachment to this woman, the woman with the kind eyes and the sunny smile, she had never been a big believer in destiny but she felt like she had been waiting her whole life to meet her. She was beautiful, kind, and Lena had not felt the usual revulsion she did when a stranger touched her skin. If she lived through this she was definitely going to marry that woman.</p>
<p>Lena had not realised she had been mumbling these thoughts out loud until Kara chuckled and whispered “Maybe you should take me out on a date before we get married huh?”. Had Lena been anything other than on the verge of consciousness, she might have been embarrassed that her inner monologue had spilled out in front of the beautiful woman. As it was, all Lena could think about when the darkness overtook her were her words. <em>Maybe you should take me out on a date…</em></p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>The sirens were roared in Kara's ears as she tried to rouse Lena and begged her to wake up. Despite her being delirious, she felt a strong pull towards this woman, and the thought of her dying made her heart clench with fear. She had always been an emotional person, always grieving victims who died on scene, but if Lena died it would be different. As she was falling unconscious Lena had mumbled about waiting her whole life to meet her, and Kara could relate to that feeling. It was as if this woman had been in her heart all along, just waiting to be found. Looking in her eyes prompted more than the vague feeling that they were destined to find one another, there was an actual spark of recognition, like she had seen or heard of eyes like hers before.</p>
<p>Her stomach was in her throat as she was pulled away from Lena by the medical professionals, who swiftly placed an oxygen mask on her face and began tending to her wounds. Other police vehicles and fire fighters arrived on scene, documenting and collecting as much evidence as they could before they had to cut Lena out of the vehicle.</p>
<p>Kara found herself looking away as they moved her limp body further inside the car to leave room for the ‘jaws of life’ to do its work on the twisted metal behind her head which was keeping the roof on. She looked down at her hands to see her left covered in Lena’s blood from holding the shirt to her wound. She wiped her hand on the remains of her shirt and retrieved her mobile from her pocket. She dialled her sisters number and waited for her to pick up the phone.</p>
<p>
  <em>Kara hey. What's up?</em>
</p>
<p>"I'm at that RTC on Mercy Lane. It's him, it's the Ripper. She's definitely his type so why did he keep her alive?"</p>
<p>W<em>ell he mutilates the victims so maybe he couldn't complete his ritual?</em></p>
<p>"She is trapped in the car"</p>
<p>
  <em>That might be why.</em>
</p>
<p>"I might need picking up I don't think I'm fit to drive"</p>
<p>Concern laced Alex's voice <em>you okay?</em></p>
<p>Kara sighed "I don't know honestly. This woman. There's something about her."</p>
<p>
  <em>I'll be there in 30</em>
</p>
<p>Kara thanked her sister and sat on the curb watching the fire fighters progress. Lena was still unconscious but the metal trapping her had been cut, leaving just the shard protruding from her thigh which would be extracted at the hospital where it could be safely removed. Kara sat with her mind oddly blank as she waited for Alex to arrive.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Lena was in surgery for hours, and Kara knew she would be no help to the investigation sat in the waiting room so she asked Alex to take her back to the station so she could conduct research into who Lena was to see if she could work out why he had left her alive. She received a call that Lena was out of surgery later that evening and was placed in a medical coma to recover. In addition to the laceration on her thigh from the metal impaling her she also had broken ribs and a collapsed lung. The hospital had managed to stabilise her and she was now in a private room of the hospital.</p>
<p>In the meantime Kara tried to find everything she could about Lena. She began by searching the registration of the Mercedes she was found in. It had been purchased 6 months ago in cash by Dr Lena Smith PhD who was a new professor at National City University specialising in Forensic Pathology and Biomedical Science. She also had several post-graduate degrees in Medical Engineering, Robotics, Criminology and Forensic Science, although looking closer there appeared to be no evidence that Dr Smith had actually completed these degrees. Kara suspected that she had, no-one could fake that level of education and intelligence, but she couldn’t find where they had been obtained. She also tried to find out where Dr Smith had worked before National City University but she couldn’t find any previous employment records. It appeared that prior to commencing her job 8 months ago Dr Smith did not exist. She had to ask Winn, their technical analyst, to conduct a deep search to try and find out why there was no record of her, of what Lena's life was like before, but he wasn't having much luck. Frustrated by the lack of progress Kara began flicking through the case file trying to see if she could find any new leads which would help move on the investigation.</p>
<p>She began skim reading the letters the Ripper had sent to the Police and played the recording. She had read them so many times she could probably recite some by heart. As she was reading the rippers account of his third murder her ears pricked as the recording began to describe the eyes of his first victim, his ‘greatest piece’. She had listened to his description so many times, it was so detailed, so vivid, that she felt she knew her almost as intimately as he did. The woman had haunted Kara’s dreams and nightmares for the last 2 months. She was clearly the model for the rest of his victims, the source of his obsession, but not one of his victims was ever just quite right. He always shut his victims eyelids post-mortem, and Kara theorised that this was because their eyes were never the same as this mystery woman’s. He described her eyes ‘as green as the leaves in the summer or the moss on a Scottish highland moor.’ He described her gaze as ‘piercing’, as if one stare could ‘reach into your heart and soul’. Alex used to joke that if he wasn’t a killer he would have made a good poet.</p>
<p>Upon hearing this description the same itch appeared in the back of her mind, the same itch she had had when she had first looked into Lena’s eyes. Now when she listened to the tape, the only face her mind was conjuring was Lena’s. She couldn’t overcome how eerily similar she was to how the Ripper was describing his first victim. He began to describe the ‘flakes of gold’ in her eyes when Kara’s heart almost stopped beating, the description wasn’t just eerily similar to Lena, it described her perfectly. Kara rewound the tape and listened to the description again unable to shake the feeling that this man was describing Lena, her Lena. This was too much of a coincidence, and Kara had to get to the hospital to see Lena again and to check for herself.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Kara walked into the hospital, messenger bag around her shoulder filled with case files about each victim, the letters and a small cassette player in order to play the recording. She walked up to the reception desk and was directed to Lena’s room. She was in the Intensive Care Unit and by a stroke of pure luck she was under the care of her adoptive mother, Eliza Danvers, who was a Senior Consultant on the unit. As she approached the ward, she began to recognise more and more of the faces of Eliza’s colleagues, and they each stopped to say hello. When she finally made it to the ward she walked to the nurses station to find a wizened nurse sat filling in paperwork. Kara smiled, Betty had been a colleague of her mother’s for years, and had been in Kara’s life since she was adopted by the Danvers.</p>
<p>"Betty - how are you?" Kara smiled widely at Betty.</p>
<p>Betty looked up and beamed "Oh Kara, lovely to see you! Are you here to see your mother?"</p>
<p>Kara shook her head "actually I'm here to see a patient, Dr Lena Smith?"</p>
<p>Betty's expression darkened "oh yes, poor girl. How could someone do that to her?"</p>
<p>Kara nodded sadly "she’s lucky, the ripper isn't known to leave witnesses"</p>
<p>Betty shook her head "Well I suppose she is but I wasn’t actually referring to that. She is covered in scars on her chest and abdomen. Imagine escaping such torture only to fall into the hands of the Ripper! I would say she has been decidedly unlucky. "</p>
<p>Kara’s heart began to race, past trauma supported Kara’s theory that Lena was the Rippers first victim. She hurriedly rummaged through her messenger bag and pulled out a small notebook and a pen "past trauma?"</p>
<p>Betty nodded and turned to pull Dr Smith's file from a drawer "oh yes, we’ve documented them all for your investigation, she has scars all over her body. Mostly focused on her chest and abdomen. It looks like someone has tortured the poor woman by carving her up. Someone has actually carved the word ‘MINE’ onto her ribs. She has covered it up with a tattoo but it's still visible if you look carefully.”</p>
<p>Kara's blood ran cold, there was no doubt in her mind that this woman was the rippers first victim, but she knew there was one thing that would confirm her suspicions without a shadow of a doubt.</p>
<p>"Betty, this is going to sound like a strange question, but does she have any birthmarks?" Kara asked slowly.</p>
<p>Betty's brow furrowed as she thought "her hip I think"</p>
<p>Kara snapped her pen with how hard she was gripping it. She stared at the two pieces, surprised at her own strength, before she placed the two halves on to the counter. "I need to see it"</p>
<p>Betty nodded and beckoned Kara to follow her. She was led through the ward to a small private room just set back a little from view. Kara stopped dead in the doorway upon seeing Lena, she looked fragile as she lay on the bed, her skin was almost translucent under the florescent lights. The bruising had developed into a clear impression of a hand around her delicate neck. She was hooked up to various machines, including a ventilator, and Kara’s heart hurt just looking at her. She felt a lump form in her throat and she swallowed thickly, trying to damp down the swell of emotion. Betty turned and appraised Kara seemingly registering that Kara was struggling but not understanding why "She’s in a medically induced coma. We are hoping to have her off the ventilator tomorrow." Betty said as she turned away and carefully pulled back Lena's sheets. "Lena honey, I'm just going to lift your gown and show this nice young detective your birthmark okay?"</p>
<p>Kara cocked her head "can she hear you?"</p>
<p>Betty shrugged before pulling up Lena's gown "there are studies which suggest she might be able to" she pulled the gown up and to the side to reveal the jut of Lena's hip. An uneven reddish mark in a thin oval shape was just above her hip bone. It matched the burn marks which the Ripper had placed on his victims. Kara suddenly felt queasy and she thanked Betty who placed her hand on Kara's shoulder before she left the room. Kara sat heavily on the seat next to the bed and sighed. Lena was definitely the Ripper’s first victim, clearly all of his later victims were surrogates for her, but why did she survive? How did she get away?</p>
<p>"Who are you?" She asked the unconscious Lena, of course there was no response. She sat there and watched Lena's chest rise and fall, her mind wondering about the mysterious woman lying in the bed. Was the Ripper the reason there was no record of her? Did she change her identity? If so, how much did she change? What was her life like before? She found that she was fascinated by the woman and wanted to know every detail about her life, right down to the mundane, she wanted to know it all. </p>
<p>"Are you a cat or a dog person?” Kara asked aloud. She wasn’t sure why she asked, its not like Lena could answer and there was certainly more pressing and important questions that should be asked first. Hit by a wave of self-consciousness she began to babble.</p>
<p>“I'm more of a dog person but cats love me. I've been compared to a Labrador a few times.... oh err... its Kara by the way. You know... the woman you proposed to whilst delirious... hi." Kara pursed her lips awkwardly and nodded her head before sitting in silence for a few moments.</p>
<p>"Where were you before? How long have you been hiding?" Kara cocked her head and sat back "I feel kinda stupid... you can't answer my questions right now.... it feels good to talk though. It feels... right..."</p>
<p>She heard the creak of the door and a presence enter the room so she fell silent. Before she could turn around to see who had entered a familiar voice spoke "Kara?"</p>
<p>Kara turned and beamed at the sight of her adopted mother in the doorway. "Eliza, Hi" Kara stood up and enveloped her in a hug.</p>
<p>"Hi honey." She hummed in satisfaction and melted into Kara's cuddle. “I wasn’t expecting you here. Alex said you were at the station.”</p>
<p>Kara released her and nodded “I was, but I thought I would come down to see how she was doing.”</p>
<p>Eliza smiled “That’s nice dear, she hasn’t had any other visitors yet, its such as shame. She’s such a beautiful girl, I’m surprised she doesn’t have a boyfriend or any friends that have come to visit”.</p>
<p>Kara sat back down in the chair beside her as Eliza began checking Lena’s machines “She doesn’t have a boyfriend and we don’t actually know much about her life before 8 months ago. Although I am pretty sure she’s gay.”</p>
<p>Eliza stopped fiddling with Lena’s IV bags and she turned to face Kara, her arms folded and her eyebrows raised in a posture which screamed ‘how do you know that?’ Kara held up her hands in her own defence before the words could actually leave Eliza’s mouth “hey she’s the one who said I was pretty, it’s a safe assumption”. She left out the part where Lena had said she was going to marry her if she survived. She was pretty sure Lena wouldn’t want anyone to know that. Kara looked down at the beautiful woman lying in the hospital bed and felt a wave of sadness “she’s really had no visitors? Not even colleagues from the University?” Eliza shook her head sadly and Kara could feel her eyes watching her carefully but she found she didn’t care. She let the emotion get the better of her and tears silently fell down her cheeks. Eliza moved to stand next to her, not saying anything, just offering silent companionship. After a moment, Kara pulled herself together and wiped her tears away. “I guess I will have to come see her tomorrow then” she said, before getting up and hugging Eliza again. “Look after her for me” she whispered into the hug, and Eliza pulled away to look at Kara’s face. Kara couldn’t look at the concern and pity radiating from her eyes, and so focused on the wall behind her.</p>
<p>Eliza let out a soft sigh and placed a kiss on Kara’s cheek “I promise” she whispered. Kara nodded, took one last look at Lena and walked out of the door.</p>
<p>Kara walked down the hallway, the usual bustle of the hospital was drowned out by her thoughts, which were consumed with Lena. She was concerned at how this woman had captured her thoughts and made herself a permanent resident in her head. She was intoxicated by her and they had not even had a proper conversation. She was aware of how utterly ridiculous it was and she vowed to get this crush under control.</p>
<p>Just as she was making her way to the carpark she received a telephone call from Winn.</p>
<p>
  <em>You my friend are in the presence of genius</em>
</p>
<p>Kara smiled "Hello to you too Winn. Also, I'm alone"</p>
<p>
  <em>Hardy har. Do you want to know what I got or not?</em>
</p>
<p>"Sorry. What you got?"</p>
<p>
  <em>So I was running missing persons reports for women of Dr Smiths description. I figured if we couldn’t find anything out about Dr Smith prior to 8 months ago its probably because its an alias. I figured someone must have missed her right? </em>
</p>
<p>Kara nodded along with Winn “Good thinking, did you find anything?”</p>
<p>
  <em>Did I find anything? Who do you think you are talking to? I had to widen my search some because at first nothing came up, but then I found something interesting. A teenager by the name of Andrea Rojas reported a 15 year old by the name of Lena Luthor missing 11 years ago. Local police investigated and spoke to her family. According to the family she was adopted and was a troubled youth, apparently she ran away a lot but was always found and brought back by her brother. The family just figured she had ran away again. </em>
</p>
<p>“And they never found her?”</p>
<p>
  <em>No they didn’t. Apparently the brother looked for years. Her parents didn’t seem particularly interested in finding her though.</em>
</p>
<p>“Golly that’s awful. Did Miss Rojas know where she might be?”</p>
<p>
  <em>Well apparently Miss Rojas was adamant that the Luthor’s must have done something to her. Although she did confirm that she had tried to run away before and had not been successful so the police closed the case. </em>
</p>
<p>"Well shit. How do we know this is our Lena?"</p>
<p>
  <em>Well, the brother gave a very detailed description, dark brown, almost black hair, sharp jawline, green eyes and a oval birthmark on her right hip.</em>
</p>
<p>Kara gasped "that's her. So she did run away. Any idea where she went?"</p>
<p>
  <em>Well here's where it gets interesting. Her 'adoptive' father, Lionel Luthor was actually her biological father. She was taken in by the Luthor’s at four years old after the death of her mother. She was formally adopted by the matriarch, Lillian. Lena was the product of an affair, huge scandal apparently, the family tried to cover it up. Anyway, Lena was 15 when she disappeared and around that time a bank account was opened in her biological mothers name, Pamela Jenkins. Thing is she had been dead for 11 years. A large deposit was made into that account from one of Lionel's offshore accounts, one which apparently he had been funnelling money into from the family for years.</em>
</p>
<p>"What happened to the cash?"</p>
<p>
  <em>Still there. Though some of it was used for tuition fees for an elite private boarding school in Ireland. I've contacted the school and there were no students by the name of Luthor but there was a Lena Jenkins enrolled around the same time that Lena Luthor went missing.</em>
</p>
<p>"So you think Lionel smuggled his daughter into Ireland?"</p>
<p>
  <em>Looks like it</em>
</p>
<p>"Thanks Winn. What about her coming back to the states?"</p>
<p>
  <em>I'm still working on that, but after school Lena went to several Irish and British universities and obtained multiple PhD's. The account remained inactive until all of a sudden, around 9 months ago a modest withdrawal was made from a bank in Ireland. Dr Jenkins quit her job as the Medical Examiner in Dublin and her consultant teachers role at the local university, packed up her house and left. None of her known associates know where she went or have heard from her since.</em>
</p>
<p>"So somehow she made her way into the USA and assumed the alias Dr Smith." Kara finished.</p>
<p>
  <em>Looks that way yeah. I'll keep digging and see what else I can find about why she was smuggled to Ireland.</em>
</p>
<p>"Thanks Winn" Kara said before terminating the call. She looked at the time, 11:30pm. The time in Ireland would be different and so she had to wait a few hours before chasing this lead. She made her way home, made something to eat and situated herself on her lumpy couch in front of her TV to wait.</p>
<p>It was 2am when the University Dr Smith had worked for in Ireland was open for the day. She waited patiently at the automated message warning that she was making an international call. She rolled her eyes, the message was recorded by the administrator Addy when an officer had been using the precinct’s phone to call his mother in Poland and had racked up a huge bill.</p>
<p><em>Hello, Trinity College Dublin how can I help?</em> Kara was thrown momentarily by the thick Irish accent and it took her a moment to work out what the other person had said.</p>
<p>“Er, Hi. My name is Detective Kara Danvers from the National City Police Department. I am calling about a recent employee of yours, Dr Lena Smith? Can I speak to her manager?”</p>
<p><em>Certainly A Chara, one moment please</em>. The woman on the end of the phone placed her on hold and Kara wondered what on earth an <em>A Chara</em> was.</p>
<p>
  <em>Hello, you’re speaking to Cian McCarthy Director of the sciences programmes, I believe you are a police woman from America?</em>
</p>
<p>“Detective Kara Danvers sir. I was wondering if you could provide some information on a former employee of yours Dr Lena Smith?”</p>
<p>
  <em>Oh my, why yes. Is she in trouble?</em>
</p>
<p>“She has been attacked sir and we think she knew her attacker. Unfortunately she is in a coma and can’t speak to us. I was wondering if you can tell us a bit about her life in Ireland?” Kara asked.</p>
<p>
  <em>Well, I didn’t know that much about her, she kept to herself really. She was a very talented medical examiner and a fine teacher. I can’t think of anyone who would want to hurt her though. She was a bit cold but the students loved her.</em>
</p>
<p>“Cold? Could you explain Sir?”</p>
<p>
  <em>Well, she was very private. She didn’t socialise with the faculty and was only ever perfectly professional. She broke many of my lecturers hearts by turning them down, so she did. When she was teaching though, she came alive. She was passionate, warm, and most importantly, she was happy. I couldn’t help wondering what she went through to be so closed off like that. I thought perhaps it was the stress of being an ME in Dublin. </em>
</p>
<p>“She didn’t say anything to you about moving to Ireland to hide from someone?”</p>
<p>
  <em>Well I knew she wasn’t originally from the Republic but I didn’t know where she was from. She certainly didn’t tell me she had come here to escape any kind of trouble. </em>
</p>
<p>“Thank you Mr McCarthy. Your insight has been helpful.”</p>
<p>
  <em>I hope you catch whoever did this. Please send our best wishes to Dr Smith when she wakes up. I’ll make sure we say a prayer for her at Mass. </em>
</p>
<p>“I am sure she will appreciate that. Have a good day sir”</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Lena was vaguely aware of a presence in her room. An artificial heaviness weighed on her chest and she was unable to move, unable to speak, unable to open her eyes. The voice was muffled, as if she was underwater hearing someone speak. Something niggled in the back of her brain, urging her to focus on the voice in the room.</p>
<p>"...we are going to play... missed you... precious..." Lena could only capture brief words but it prompted a memory which swam in front of Lena's consciousness.</p>
<p>
  <em>She was four years old when her mother died and the Luthor’s swooped in to take her as their ward. Lex had immediately taken in interest in her and he seemed to always be there, watching her eat, sleep or play. At first it had been intimidating, but he only seemed to linger, so she soon got used to his presence. She could even get him to play with her - he would have tea parties with her, even though he called them childish and girly. He would watch the beatings Lillian would give Lena without intervening, but afterwards he would hold her stiffly whilst she cried, awkwardly patting her back. It was not a replacement for the love of her late mother, but it seemed to be the best she could get in that cursed place.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>She was 7 years old when he began forcing her to play the games he wanted to play. She was hid in her bedroom, crying after being slapped in the face by Lillian for asking about her birth mother. Lex walked into the room, stiff and awkward as usual, but instead of sitting on the edge of her bed as normal he bent down beside her and pulled the covers back gently. "Lena? You okay?" Lena sniffled and nodded weakly, tears in her eyes. Lex looked different today, whilst he was usually a little ill at ease when interacting with her, he appeared to be nervous, maybe even excited. Lex gripped her wrist and pulled her out of bed. "Come on, we are going to play a game.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Lex pulled Lena outside into the garden and made her walk along the edge of the property. The walk was long, and Lena's little feet began to hurt. "How much longer?" she whined.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Soon" Lex grunted striding forward easily through the brush. They came to a small den made with large branches and Lex whirled around with a dark grin on his face. "We're here!" He pulled her into the den and pushed her to sit on the cold ground. Lex stood over Lena and watched her for a moment, the nervous energy was still there, and his eyes were dark when he stared at her. Lena noticed a strange bulge in his pants as he stood over her and Lena began to feel uncomfortable at being stared at.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Lex what are we doing here?" she said timidly, trying to work out why he was looking at her weirdly.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"I wanna try something. Remember our dog? Ignatius?" Lena nodded "well I tried this game with him. Mom saw it though, he couldn’t keep it a secret. You are going to keep this a secret, our special game between us. Do you understand?" there was a look of fire in Lex's eyes.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"You're scaring me" Lena whimpered</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Good. It’s all part of the game. If you love me you will play with me."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Lena, crying now, nodded slowly. Little did she know what she was agreeing to.</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. In my dreams</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Lena wakes up and she is able to identify the Midvale Ripper. Alex comes up with a plan to draw him out. Kara doesn't like it one bit.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>As before, references to abuse, rape and murder but again not graphic. </p>
<p>Final chapter is being finished and will be posted tomorrow. Enjoy!</p>
<p>If you like this and want them to become a crime fighting duo let me know in the comments. I have a few ideas on how to make this into a series. </p>
<p>Kudos and Comments welcome!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kara had spent the last few days chasing leads from Lena’s hospital room, reluctant to leave the woman alone in case she woke up. Kara felt oddly comforted in the woman’s presence, and she found herself watching her chest rise and fall slowly whenever the day became too stressful. Eliza brought her lunch and supplied Kara with coffee throughout the day to make sure she was fed and watered. Lena was taken off the ventilator as planned and was now breathing well on her own. The doctors were slowly reducing the medication and were optimistic they would be able to wake her up soon.</p>
<p>Kara also found herself talking to Lena, she told her about herself, that she was adopted by the Danvers at 12 years old and had joined the force at 18 as a beat cop. With Alex being one of the best Detectives in National City, Kara was forced to work hard to make a name for herself outside of her sisters shadow. She was so hard working she had earned the moniker ‘Supergirl’ because she was the fastest and the strongest woman in the force. Kara told Lena about her childhood dog named streaky, and how she was saving up to buy a dog which she will name Krypto. She wasn’t sure whether it was because Lena was asleep, or whether it was something to do with the woman herself, but Kara felt herself sharing her deepest fears with her. Tears filled her eyes as she confessed that she feared every day that her adoptive family would get hurt and she would be alone again in the world. She supposed that is why she followed in Alex’s footsteps – she wanted to make sure her loved ones were safe. She held Lena’s hand as she cried, and she felt her fingers flex around hers, as if trying to softly squeeze her hand. Kara had excitedly spoken to Eliza about it, who had said that it sometimes happens and doesn’t mean she can hear her. Kara chose to believe that Lena was listening.</p>
<p>It had been a week since the accident and Kara had spent her weekend off reading to Lena and talking to her. She quite enjoyed herself, and found herself more relaxed than she had ever been in a long time. Eliza had said that, all being well, Lena would be woken up today, so Kara had brought a big bunch of Plumerias to brighten up the room. Whistling cheerfully she went to open the door to Lena's room but found it was locked. Strange. Kara pressed her ear to the door and she heard a low voice speaking to Lena "You left me. We had a good thing together and you had to go and leave. Well I'm going to make sure you never leave me again. We’re going to play just like old times. I missed you" a gasp came from inside “my precious work, ruined. We are just going to have to start again aren’t we.”</p>
<p>Kara's blood ran cold as she listened, she had heard the recording enough times to recognise the voice immediately, the Ripper. He had come back for Lena and she was in grave danger. White hot anger ripped through Kara’s belly at the thought of his hands on her again and she pulled out her service weapon and roared “POLICE OPEN UP”. Adrenalin flowed through her veins and when she had no response she reared back and kicked the door with all her might. The hinges gave away easily and the door burst open violently, splintering in half. Screams echoed through the hallways of the hospital as people began to recognise that something was going on and the sound of people running for cover could be heard. Kara trained her gun on the man who was stood over Lena, he was wearing a pair of blue scrubs, a medical mask and a hat. He wasn’t wearing an ID badge and he was holding a fillet knife over Lena’s left breast, as if he was about to carve into her. He had pulled her bedcovers off the bed and they were pooled at his feet as well has having cut her gown in order to leave her naked on the bed. Kara immediately saw the scars spiralling across her chest, torso and down towards her pubic area, all healed, but clearly some much older than others. The dressings from her operation had been torn off, and the small surgical incisions to repair the damage to her ribs and lung stood in sharp contrast next to the older scars. The bandage on her thigh remained, clearly having no interest to him. His eyes were ice blue and full of hate, his pupils dilated wide and his erection clear underneath the scrubs.</p>
<p>“Put the knife down and step away from her” she growled, cocking her gun to indicate which direction she wanted him to move. She had no qualms with shooting him, but she wanted to see him rot in prison for what he had done to those women. His eyes flicked to Lena and back to Kara as if calculating his next move. Without warning he threw the knife with all his might at Kara’s face, taking her by surprise. She barely had enough time to bring her arms up to shield her face before it buried itself in the side of her forearm. She yelled as she felt the knife split her skin and imbed itself in her bone and her body involuntarily buckled to try and escape the pain. Her vision blurred from the pain for a few seconds and she heard him run out of the room past her. She turned her body to follow, staggering forward and out of the door, she leaned against the doorframe and caught her breath looking up and down the corridor, her vision wavering as she tried to focus on the masses of running bodies in the hallway.</p>
<p>After a couple of seconds she was able to shake off the worst of the pain and her vision sharpened and returned. She swore when she realised she couldn’t see him he had gotten away. She staggered to the nurses station holding her injured arm, she collapsed against it and searched without much success for dressings so she could take the knife from her arm. Tears of frustration fell down her face as she felt a pair of warm hands fall on her shoulders. “Kara, oh my god” Eliza’s voice came from behind her. Kara whirled around, “call security, tell them to be on the lookout for a man in scrubs and wearing a facemask and hat. Tell them to check ID badges. We can’t let him escape. Put the hospital on lockdown”</p>
<p>Eliza ran round the nurses station and picked up the phone, “What happened who was it?”</p>
<p>Kara looked up at Eliza whose face was pale and full of fear “the Ripper”</p>
<p>Eliza blinked and nodded before talking hurriedly down the phone, she waved her colleagues over who brought over dressings and began to treat her injury. She used her good arm to call dispatch on her mobile and set up a four block cordon around the hospital.  Betty whispered apologies as she pulled the knife from Kara’s arm and caused her to yell out in pain. The dispatcher was concerned but she assured her she was fine as she was being stitched and bandaged up. As security and police began to fill the halls the atmosphere quietened and Kara felt exhausted. Once she had done everything she could she made her way back to Lena’s room. She told the nurse that Lena’s surgical dressings needed reapplying before sitting heavily down in the chair beside her bed, closing her eyes and promptly falling asleep.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Lena opened her eyes to find bright fluorescent lights beaming down on her. Her heart began to race and her breathing sped up as she realised she did not recognise where she was or how she got there. She looked around the room and her eyes fell on a blonde woman snoring softly in the chair beside her bed. She immediately calmed as she recognised the woman who had helped her after the crash, the woman she had initially thought was an angel. She spent a moment looking at her face, slack and peaceful with sleep, soft snores rumbling from her throat. Lena smiled quietly feeling immediately at peace. Inexplicably, she knew that wherever this woman was, she would be safe. She had a vague recollection of dreaming about this woman; dreams about grief and loss followed by familial love and happiness. Despite only being awake for a matter of moments, exhaustion overtook her and she fell asleep once more.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Kara woke after having slept for several hours and her back ached, she stood and stretched her spine, relishing the feeling of the stretching muscles. She turned to Lena, who clearly had been tended to whilst Kara was asleep, as she had been dressed again in a medical gown and fresh bedclothes covered her. She smiled softly down at the sleeping woman, and watched her chest rise and fall steadily. Her delicate hand lay on top of the covers by her side, and Kara couldn’t help but reach forward to take it gently and stroke the soft skin on the back of her knuckles with her thumb.</p>
<p>The sound of the door open jolted Kara back into the present and she quickly dropped Lena’s hand and took a step back. Alex had walked through the door and was looking at Kara, visibly assessing her to see how much damage the Ripper had caused. Seemingly satisfied that Kara was in one piece she strode forward and pulled her into a bone crushing hug.  "Fuck you scared me kid" she mumbled into Kara's shoulder. Alex pulled up a chair and sat next to her. "Was it him? Did you get a good look at him?"</p>
<p>Kara nodded "I think it was him, and no I didn't. He was wearing a mask, I only saw his eyes. I am assuming he escaped the cordon?"</p>
<p>Alex's eyes darkened "damn. Yeah he did the slimy prick. But don't worry, you'll get him. You've made more progress in the last week than I made in almost 10 years!"</p>
<p>Kara nodded her head towards Lena "only because of her though."</p>
<p>Alex looked at her "who is she?"</p>
<p>Kara pulled an tablet from her messenger bag hung on her chair and opened the file from Winn. "Lena Luthor"</p>
<p>Alex frowned as she scrolled through the information on the tablet. "Luthor? Aren't they old money from Midvale? I didn't know they had a daughter?"</p>
<p>Kara nodded "Kept her hush hush apparently. She disappeared when she was 15 and it was around the same time when the Ripper first started killing. My theory is that Lena here was his first victim and her disappearance triggered his escalation to murder."</p>
<p>Alex hummed in thought "Lena Luthor is two years younger than you. Do you not remember her from school?"</p>
<p>Kara shook her head. "According to records Lionel home schooled her from age 11. She never went to Midvale High."</p>
<p>Alex nodded thoughtfully. "You looked into the family?"</p>
<p>"Yeah. Lillian Luthor is still in town, but she's a recluse. Couple of DUI's but that's it. Lionel died 8 months ago. Lex runs the family business, keeps to himself, but has a clean record. I'm having Winn do a deep dive into the family to see if there are any skeletons in the closet we don’t yet know about"</p>
<p>Alex gave a wry smile "I'm proud of you. You seem to have this handled"</p>
<p>Kara chuckled "Thanks Captain Danvers."</p>
<p>Alex swatted at Kara's arm "you know what I mean", Kara giggled before they fell into a comfortable silence.</p>
<p>"There's something about her, Alex." Kara said finally. Alex turned and cocked an eyebrow questioningly "I don't know, she just feels... special"</p>
<p>Alex nodded "I mean. She <em>is</em> hot"</p>
<p>Kara choked on her own tongue, blushed and began to stutter "what!? I mean... yeah but - It’s not..." Alex laughed and patted Kara's knee.</p>
<p>"It’s alright to have a little crush, just don't let it interfere with the investigation". Alex smiled knowingly, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively</p>
<p>Kara pouted and grumbled "I don't have a crush"</p>
<p>Alex stood and laughed loudly "you have been to visit her almost every day and when I came in you were holding her hand, looking at her with this dopey smile on your face. I'm not blind." Kara scowled but said nothing, choosing instead to look at Lena. "I'm off kiddo. If you need anything give me a shout." Kara nodded and sat back in chair as Alex left the room. Kara ruminated on what Alex had said.</p>
<p>"I don't have a crush" she said aloud "I mean, I don't even know you!”</p>
<p>She thought about the information she had gathered on her past “Well- I know you were adopted, I know you went to Ireland when you were 15 and I know you are insanely clever and well educated but I don't know the important things! The things that make you a real person. Like are you a tea or a coffee person? Do you like potstickers? What are your aspirations? Do you want to get married and have kids or are you more career focused? Those type of things. I like coffee, love potstickers, I wanna be a sergeant someday and I wanna get married and have two kids. I don't even really know if you are into women. I mean, a delirious compliment means nothing in reality. Hell when I had my wisdom teeth out I thought the doctor was a chicken! Granted he did have big jowls that wobbled like a chicken's when he talked but still!" Kara realised she was babbling and blushed as she fell silent "Jesus, you're unconscious and I still can't talk to you like a normal human".</p>
<p>Kara groaned and placed her head in her hands pressing her forehead into her palms hard. Kara's head shot back up and her mouth dropped open when a small voice, cracked with disuse replied "don't worry I think it’s cute"</p>
<p>Lena's eyes were still closed but her brow was furrowed as if she was shielding them from the light.</p>
<p>"Miss Luthor!" Kara stood up and placed a hand on Lena's arm "you’re awake” she couldn’t help but feel giddy that Lena was awake and okay, that she was safe.</p>
<p>"Luthor? So you know then" she grumbled her eyes cracking open to look at Kara.</p>
<p>Kara winced, feeling a little sheepish "yeah we do"</p>
<p>Lena sighed as if she was resigned for something "am I going to be arrested?"</p>
<p>Kara baulked "what?! No! You did it to protect yourself! Legally it probably wasn't the right way to do it but you did what you had to do. I don't plan on pressing any charges"</p>
<p>Lena raised an eyebrow "oh? And do you have that authority?"</p>
<p>Kara deflated slightly "well.. no... but I'm the lead Detective on the case and the Captain is my sister. She will listen to me"</p>
<p>Lena nodded and her eyes fluttered closed and she hummed. "Thank you" she said quietly.</p>
<p>Kara nodded and stood up to leave and get a nurse, as she was walking out Lena spoke again "I prefer coffee over tea." Kara blushed hard and stumbled out of the door to get a nurse.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Lena was sore but alive. From the moment she woke up she noticed she was being guarded by two heavily armed officers. Lena had asked Kara about it and she had promised to explain later, but that she needed to wait for her sister first. Why was what to them a simple car crash being met with such ferocity? Why was the Captain coming to speak to her? Lena was thankful when her doctor Eliza, had cleared her to walk to the bathroom unassisted. She had managed to get showered and had changed into a Midvale Police Department hoodie and sweatpants which Kara had one of her guards fetch. Kara spent every moment watching over Lena whilst they waited. When Kara went to the bathroom Eliza had told her that Kara had barely left her side since the day following the accident and had spent most of the day working from her room. Lena curiously felt like she already knew that and had a strange tug on her heart when Eliza confirmed it. No one had cared about her wellbeing so much before, particularly a stranger.</p>
<p>They sat and talked for a long time, Kara chuckling when repeating something she had spoken about whilst Lena was asleep. Some of the stories brought flashes of recognition, and Kara beamed widely when Lena confessed she had dreamt about some of Kara’s stories. Lena listened easily, drinking in all the information Kara gave her. Lena loved seeing Kara smile, it lit up her whole face like the sun and warmed Lena’s heart. Lena carefully shared some nicer memories, knowing that the darker stuff will need to be discussed later and not to dampen the mood between them. Lena felt inexplicitly drawn to Kara and was desperate to get to know the blonde more.</p>
<p>“Do you remember anything about before you woke up?” Kara asked with a mouthful of pudding that she had stolen from Lena’s untouched dinner.</p>
<p>“I remember you being there. I remember thinking I was dead. I probably made myself look like a fool” Lena was blushing hard, and Kara smiled widely.</p>
<p>“Nah it was cute” Kara giggled before her eyes filled with a mischievous glint “Although we need to talk about when we want to plan this wedding.” She wiggled her eyebrows and cackled as Lena dropped her head into her hands and groaned loudly.</p>
<p>“I really hoped you would forget about that!” Lena lamented.</p>
<p>“How could I forget? It’s not every day a beautiful woman tells me in no uncertain terms that she is marrying me” Lena stuck her tongue out at Kara and pouted playfully and Kara held her ribs she laughed so hard.</p>
<p>“Well I seem to recall being politely turned down” Lena teased</p>
<p>“No, I said you should take me on a date first.” she held her hand over her heart in mock outrage.</p>
<p>Lena smiled “You’re a dork”</p>
<p>Kara nodded “the dorkiest. You love it though”</p>
<p>Lena blushed “shut up”</p>
<p>A woman with short red hair and a commanding demeanour entered the room interrupting them and causing Kara to smile widely. She raised an eyebrow at the two of them laughing but said nothing.</p>
<p>"Miss Luthor, I’m Chief Danvers. You can call me Alex. Nice to see you awake" Lena’s giggles quietened and she cleared her throat, adopting her professional manner, the one that earned her the nickname 'ice queen'.</p>
<p>She held out her hand stiffly and firmly shook Alex's hand. If Alex was surprised by the firmness of the handshake she didn't bat an eye. "Captain Danvers - Alex. Pleasure to meet you. I trust you are going to explain why a car crash deserves round the clock guards on my person".</p>
<p>Alex shot her a funny look before turning to Kara questioningly. Kara looked just as stunned before replying "you don't know?"</p>
<p>Lena arched her brow and sat up straighter in the bed "know what?"</p>
<p>"You were ran off the road by the Midvale Ripper" Alex chimed in incredulously.</p>
<p>Lena frowned – who is 'the Midvale Ripper'? "No I wasn’t?"</p>
<p>Both Kara and Alex's eyes widened in twin expressions of horror and Lena quickly corrected herself "I mean, I was driven off the road but not by someone called Ripper.”</p>
<p>Kara leaned forward in her chair towards Lena a serious look on her face “Do you know the person who ran you of the road?”</p>
<p>Lena looked confused at Kara and then Alex “Yeah I do.” She looked at Kara “I assumed you knew that given you knew the reasons I had to change my identity to come back to the States?”</p>
<p>Kara gently took Lena’s hands, an intense look on her face “we know someone tortured you horrendously and we assume that is why you were sent to Ireland. We don’t know who that person was. Is the person who tortured you the same person who ran you off the road?”</p>
<p>Lena nodded mutely. “Who was it Miss Luthor?” Alex said, the same intense look on her face, as if Lena was about to reveal some terrible secret.</p>
<p>“My brother” There was a moment of silence where both women stared at Lena, their faces in identical masks of both shock and horror. Kara was the first to snap out of it, and she immediately stood and pulled her mobile from her pocket and began to pace in the room. Lena didn’t, couldn’t, say anything and she just watched the two women spring into action and work together like a well-oiled machine. Kara was talking to someone called Winn, whereas Alex was on the phone to a Sergeant J’onzz, by the sounds of it co-ordinating some sort of tactical unit. Kara hung up the phone and walked back to Lena, who realised she had tears flowing down her face, and began wiping them away with her fingers and whispering soothing words.</p>
<p>“Don’t worry, he won’t get you here. You’re safe with me” Kara whispered and Lena felt immediately grateful for the woman’s presence as she was sure if she wasn’t there she would have fallen to pieces.</p>
<p>“I don’t understand. What’s going on?” Lena said quietly, her voice filled with fear.</p>
<p>Kara sat on the edge of the bed and held Lena’s hands in hers “We have strong evidence to suggest that the person who ran you off the road, who called us to the scene to rescue you, was the Midvale Ripper, an active serial killer. He's been killing brunette women between the ages of 18 to 35. He has a total of twenty three known victims”.</p>
<p>“How do you know its him?” Kara looked at Alex, who had hung up and was watching the two of them carefully.</p>
<p>“You were an ME in Ireland right?” Lena nodded.</p>
<p>“Then it would be easier to show you” Alex said calmly “You think you’re up for it?”.</p>
<p>Lena looked into Kara’s kind eyes, filled with concern for her, before looking back to Alex and nodding. Kara insisted that Lena be taken to the morgue below the hospital in a wheelchair and pushed her the entire way herself, despite the wheelchair being able to be pushed by the user. The morgue was in the basement of the hospital, not unusual for regional hospitals such as this one, and Lena immediately felt at home in the place. It was very similar to her own lab back in Ireland and she immediately felt the usual comfort that came with her work. She knew it was quite a macabre way to feel, but it was the thought of helping people by identifying their bodies, causes of death, and gathering evidence for later use in criminal trials which satisfied her enormously. Her work at the University was nice, but she didn’t get the same satisfaction as she did as a Medical Examiner.</p>
<p>The resident ME looked over a hundred as he waddled over to the women holding on to his walking stick for dear life trying to remain upright. He looked the same colour as some of the corpses he was dealing with and like he would keel over at any second. “Reggie” Alex said cheerily “How are you doing man?”</p>
<p>Reggie chuckled “Asides from my knees, my hips and my damn back I couldn’t be better.” He chortled his eyes crinkling with mirth and good humour. He reminded Lena of her mentor from Ireland but far fatter and far more American. “Who’s this fine lady. I assume she’s not here to see me? She’s far too fresh for that” he shot a wink at Lena who giggled and held her hand out to shake it.</p>
<p>“Lena Luthor. I was the Medical Examiner for Dublin before I moved back to the states 8 months ago.” Reggie shook her hand.</p>
<p>“Luthor? I thought it was a Dr Lena Jenkins who was the ME there?” Reggie’s brow knitted in confusion and Kara chuckled.</p>
<p>“She is one and the same Doctor. She was in protective custody and for her safety her name was changed to Jenkins” the lie fell smoothly out of Kara’s mouth without hesitation and Lena turned and raised an eyebrow at her. Alex looked less than impressed but just rolled her eyes and went with it.</p>
<p>“Doc, we are here to see one of the Ripper victims if you would. The good Doctor here is a victim herself and she is going to take a look, see if she can identify any of the wound patterns and link them to the man who hurt her” Reggie nodded and began shuffling towards the cadaver storage.</p>
<p>“I must say Dr Luthor, your paper on forensic techniques to identify tool marks in bones and tissue was fascinating. It really helped me identify some of the cuts on some of our more bonier guests” Reggie said as he searched the nametags before pulling out a gurney with a body bag laid on it.</p>
<p>“Thank you Doctor, it’s nice to know my work helped on this case even over the pacific.”  Lena smiled as the doctor was unzipping the body bag.</p>
<p>“Oh not just this case dear, I shared your article with all my buddies and the local ME’s. We had a national conference and I made sure that your articles were on the recommended reading list” Lena’s mouth dropped, she was a little dumbfounded that her work had been so widely read, even across the pond.</p>
<p>Kara shot a brilliant smile at Lena and she almost looked… proud? It was a strange feeling, no one had ever been proud of her before except for her teachers, and even then it was because her success reflected well on their teaching ability. Her thoughts were interrupted when Reggie pulled back the cover to reveal a woman with dark brown hair and sharp features. “What do you see?” Reggie asked, handing her a file filled with x-rays and photographs, in a similar way her old mentor used to do to test her skills.</p>
<p>Lena immediately pulled out an X-ray of the victims teeth and held it up to the light before putting it carefully back in the file. “Female, approximately 25 to 30 based on the root formation of the first Mandibular Molar and Canine. Gloves please?” Reggie handed Lena a pair of surgical gloves and an apron, which she put on and she carefully leaned over the body and opened the victims eyelids. “Petechial haemorrhaging of the eyes suggests asphyxiation was the cause of death but the haemorrhagic staining around the wounds suggests that he carved their chest and abdomen antemortem. Evidence of sexual assault prior to death followed by post-mortem stabbing to the genitals. They were tortured, raped, strangled to death then their genitals were mutilated”. Lena snapped the file shut and handed it back to Reggie, who looked impressed.</p>
<p>“All that after a quick glance? You need a job?” he chuckled and Lena blushed.</p>
<p>“Looking for your replacement Reggie?” Kara joked winking at Lena.</p>
<p>“I’m getting to old for this shite and you have talent on your hands ladies. Would be a shame to waste it” Reggie said looking pointedly at Lena.</p>
<p>Lena blushed harder “Well how about we sit down for lunch and chat about it, if it is a serious offer, but only after this bastard is caught hey?”</p>
<p>Reggie smiled widely “Sounds great.” He looked to Alex and Kara “Did you ladies get what you were looking for?”</p>
<p>Kara looked to Lena “We don’t know yet. Lena, do you recognise any of these injuries?”</p>
<p>Lena’s face fell and she shrunk in on herself slightly before sitting down in the wheelchair once again. Kara knelt down in front of her, hands resting on her knees and waited patiently for Lena to reply. Lena twisted her hands together anxiously, trying to work up the courage to say out loud what had happened to her for the first time in her life.</p>
<p>“Yes. This is clearly my brother’s handiwork. It started with strangulation at first, breath play he called it. He would choke me just until I was unconscious and then dunk me in cold water to wake me up again. He then started drawing patterns on my skin on my chest and abdomen with his knife. I was 11 when the sexual assaults started.” Her throat began to close and she felt like she couldn’t breathe, her heart raced and tears began to stream down her eyes. She was transported back to that den he had built and she began to relive the horrors she had experienced. She was vaguely aware that someone was calling her name, and a pair of soft hands landed on her cheeks.</p>
<p>“Lena, you’re hyperventilating. Just breathe for me” she recognised Kara’s voice. Her Kara, who promised she would be safe. She took a deep shuddering breath and became more aware of her surroundings. Reggie was filling up a glass of water at the sink and both Kara and Alex were crouched in front of her, identical looks of concern on their faces. Alex’s hand was on her knee and Kara had her face cupped in her hand so she was looking at her. Reggie walked back with the water and Alex took it, coaxing Lena to drink. The cold water was soothing on her throat, and she felt the cold spread through her chest.</p>
<p>“Lena, tell me five things you can see?” Kara asked quietly, Lena looked around as instructed, trying to focus on the room around her.</p>
<p>“You, the wheelchair, white walls, fluorescent lights, morgue slab.” She recited, looking back into Kara’s blue eyes.</p>
<p>“Good girl. Four things you can feel?”</p>
<p>“erm..” Lena closed her eyes and allowed herself to focus on what her skin was touching “the metal of the wheelchair, the fabric seat of the wheelchair, the floor under my feet, your hands on my face”</p>
<p>Lena opened her eyes and Kara was smiling softly at her. “Well done. Now tell me three things you can hear”. Lena felt her breathing slowing and her heart beginning to calm down.</p>
<p>“My heartbeat, your breathing, the hum of the fridges.” Lena whispered, the tightness in her chest was dissipating and she felt it was easier to breathe.</p>
<p>“Just a couple more okay? Tell me two things you can smell” Lena inhaled deeply and chuckled softly.</p>
<p>“Dead bodies and bleach” Kara laughed, her eyes crinkling beautifully in the corners.</p>
<p>“And finally, tell me one thing you can taste” Lena licked her lips and tasted the salt from her tears, she smiled weakly.</p>
<p>“Salt” Kara laughed softly and swiped her thumbs across Lena’s cheeks to clear her tears.</p>
<p>“Better?” Kara asked softly and Lena’s heart couldn’t help but swoop at the care and compassion this woman had shown for her.</p>
<p>“much” she whispered “sorry”</p>
<p>Kara shook her head “never ever be sorry for that”. Lena smiled and they stared into each other’s eyes lost in the tender moment between them. Alex cleared her throat and the two women were brought back to reality with a start, each flushing with embarrassment and trying not to look at the knowing smile being shared between Reggie and Alex.</p>
<p>"The Midvale Ripper - how long has he been operating?"</p>
<p>Kara looked to Alex and they shared a look between them before Alex responded “you probably don’t want to know"</p>
<p>Lena rolled her eyes tersely and huffed with irritation “I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want to know”</p>
<p>Alex grimaced and stood up from her crouch, wringing her hands together. “His first known victim went missing in 2008”. Lena’s heart sank, so right when Lena left for Ireland. Lena baulked and stared at the two women, both had identical worried looks on their faces.</p>
<p>"I... er..." she cleared her throat and took a steadying breath. "I would like a minute alone please"</p>
<p>They nodded and slinked out of the room, followed closely by Reggie, the door shut and Lena could hear their worried voices through the door. Lena's stomach was rolling as if she had just gotten off of a particularly violent rollercoaster. She stumbled to the sink and began to vomit. As she hadn't eaten solid food in days only stomach acid came up and her stomach was violently contracting on itself. She was shaking and crying uncontrollably as she felt a pair of warm hands pulling her hair away from her face.</p>
<p>"It’s alright, let it out" Kara murmured holding her hair in one hand and stroking small reassuring circles into her back with the other. When her stomach was done torturing her she sat back heavily onto the floor. Kara sat down beside her and bundled her up in her strong arms. Lena cried loudly and messily, she cried for all the women who had lost their lives at the hands of her brother, how she could have prevented him from killing by just staying and putting up with his abuse, she cried with guilt that she was the one to survive and they did not. Her face was pressed into Kara's blue shirt, which was steadily soaking up Lena's tears. Kara stroked Lena's hair as she cried, mumbling soothing words and rocking her gently. Lena was unsure how long they were sat together on the cold bathroom floor, but eventually Lena's sobs died to small sniffles.</p>
<p>Eventually Lena mumbled "maybe if I had stayed he wouldn't have..."</p>
<p>Kara interrupted her voice low and firm "No. He would have begun killing anyway. You just would have been his first and I would never have met you" Kara's arms tightened around her and Lena allowed herself to be pulled deeper into her embrace. Lena was usually loath to allow any physical contact beyond a handshake, especially anything restrictive like a hug. But for the first time since she was 7 years old, she felt comfortable in someone else's embrace. She felt safe. Lena buried her head into Kara's neck and allowed her mind to clear and the last of her tears to dry up.</p>
<p>With a sigh she whispered "thank you" and pulled away. Kara smiled sweetly and hopped up off the floor far more gracefully than Lena expected and she held a hand out to help Lena up. Creaking and groaning like an old gate, Lena was lifted gingerly off the floor. Kara helped Lena hobble back to her wheelchair and got her comfortable.</p>
<p>Lena sighed heavily and an expression of grim determination set on her sharp features. "How do we stop him"</p>
<p>"You could start by answering a few questions. They will be difficult so maybe it's best for us to go back to the room for the interview?” Lena agreed and they made their way back to her room in silence. Kara helped Lena back into bed and was fussing with her pillow and quilt, seemingly trying to make Lena as comfortable as possible. Lena could tell Kara was fussing because she was worrying that she would have another panic attack or flashback again so she caught Kara’s hands and looked directly into her eyes.</p>
<p>"I'm ready now." She said firmly.</p>
<p>"Okay, erm..." Kara pulled the chair at the side of the bed closer so her knees were pressed against the bars of the medical bed. She rummaged in a messenger bag and pulled out a pocket Dictaphone and pressed record before laying it on the bed between them "It is Monday 1 March 2021 and we are in Midvale General Hospital. Present is Detective Kara Danvers, badge number 78737 and Miss Lena Luthor, also known as Dr Lena Jenkins and Dr Lena Smith... wait- are you Dr Luthor as well?"</p>
<p>Lena shrugged "I mean I did do the PhD's? But Lena is fine anyway"</p>
<p>Kara smiled, her baby blue eyes sparkling in the harsh florescent lighting "Lena. Take me back to the night of the accident"</p>
<p>"I was driving in my Mercedes- do you need colour and reg number?” Kara shook her head “No? Okay. Erm, yeah so I was driving and a large white van came careening towards me down the road. At the last second the van swerved in front of me and we hit head on. All I remember is a sharp pain in my thigh and the sound of crushing metal and then I blacked out."</p>
<p>Kara nodded absently "and what happened next?"</p>
<p>"My brother was trying to pull me out of the car but I was trapped. He gave up and said I needed to live because he was going to come back for me. He ran off"</p>
<p>"What’s the next thing you remember?" Kara said, jotting down notes in her pad despite the recording.</p>
<p>"A Detective with pretty blue eyes" Lena sounded a lot braver than she felt, and her stomach fluttered with butterflies.</p>
<p>Kara blushed hard and cleared her throat. "Yeah.. umm... that was me... do you remember anything from the hospital?"</p>
<p>Lena thought hard before replying "I vaguely remember hearing voices, mostly female, and I had some dreams about family and things like that. All abstract really. Then I remember hearing a recognisable male voice which caused me to have a dream about my brother. Well, more of a memory really about the first time he hurt me."</p>
<p>Kara frowned "tell me about that?"</p>
<p>"I was 7. He took me into the shrubbery at the bottom of the Luthor estate. He said he wanted to try a game. He strangled me until I almost passed out. He then used a compass to scratch patterns in my belly" Lena winced at the memory "he told me not to tell, he told me he had killed the family dog because he couldn't keep a secret. So I didn't say anything"</p>
<p>"How did you hide the cuts and bruises?" Kara said quietly</p>
<p>Lena snorted "I didn't. The Luthor’s didn't notice or care. It was only more bruises to add to my collection from Lillian. Lionel, he eventually found out as the scratches became cuts but he must have thought it was Lillian, because he just cleaned my wounds, gave me a cuddle and put me to bed. When I became big enough to push Lex away he would bind me with gardeners rope and then later chains. Lionel would massage my wrists to help minimise the bruising. Eventually he made me tell him who was doing it when I had been raped so hard and so many times I could barely walk and the word mine was carved into my ribs. It was very deep that one. Almost down to the bone."</p>
<p>Lena sat staring into space, she felt like she was floating above herself, watching down at the cold shell of the woman explaining her life story. Part of her wanted to scream and shout, to destroy the world and the people in it, just so she could be safe. But she had spent enough time in her youth trying that and it only served to bring her more heartbreak. She refocused back on Kara, who was watching her carefully with a surprisingly neutral expression on her face. Despite the cool exterior, Lena could see a glimmer of rage in the Detective's eyes.</p>
<p>Kara cleared her throat and took a steadying breath. "Tell what happened after that."</p>
<p>"I told him. I told him everything. It came flooding through like a dam had broken. Lionel didn't say anything. He just sat and stared at me as I cried. He immediately stood and left me there, in his study, locking the door behind him. I don't know how long I was there, must have been hours, but he came in with a brand new suitcase and clothes, a new passport and a box of the morning after pill."</p>
<p>Lena choked back a sob before continuing, unable now to keep the emotions in check. "He sent me away. At the time I was so angry. Why was I being punished? But eventually I realised Lionel was helping me the only way he knew how. There was no way I wouldn't be blamed in some way and punished by Lillian."</p>
<p>"Why did you come back?"</p>
<p>"10 months ago I received a letter from Lionel. He was dying. He told me everything I had suspected for years, that he sent me away to save me. To give me a better life. He sent me details of a bank account in my mother's name, my biological mother that is. He had been saving money in that account, siphoning from the Luthor’s wealth. There's probably about 12 million left in there"</p>
<p>Kara gaped, this wasn't new information but Winn hadn't disclosed the amount of money involved.</p>
<p>"I used a bit of it to change my identity again and to come back to the US. I went to visit his grave after his funeral, left flowers. I got a job here very quickly and figured I would stay for a few years. I knew Lex was dangerous but I didn't think he would go out of his way to find me. I thought I was safe enough in National City."</p>
<p>"Why were you on Mercy Lane that night?"</p>
<p>"One of my colleagues, she has a prosthetic limb but the medical insurance through the university won’t cover repairs to it. She doesn’t have the money to get it fixed and it has been falling apart for years. It finally broke that night and I offered to go over and see if I could fix it. I have a PhD in Biomedical Engineering so I knew I would be able to fix it at least until she had the money to get it replaced."</p>
<p>"At 8pm at night?"</p>
<p>Lena shrugged, "I have never had anything in my life other than work Kara. Finishing at 8pm is actually early for me"</p>
<p>They were interrupted by Kara's phone, it was Maggie, sergeant of the uniformed officers. "Interview terminated at 17:57. Hello?"</p>
<p>
  <em>Kara, Hi. I've had my boys search the Luthor residences and business. No sign of Lex. Found something interesting though.</em>
</p>
<p>A ping alerted Kara that a photo had been sent to her. She pulled her ear away from the handset to look at it. The photo was of a wall at the back of a wardrobe covered in pictures of Lena, living her normal routine. It appeared he had been following her movements both in Ireland and in The US from about the time Lena decided to move.</p>
<p>
  <em>That your girl?</em>
</p>
<p>Kara blushed "yeah that's Lena"</p>
<p>
  <em>Right well there's a lot of dates here but it all starts about 9 months ago.</em>
</p>
<p>"A month before she moved to the US"</p>
<p>
  <em>If you say so. That's not all. Found some women's jewellery in a box. Pretty sure if you ask the families you will find them to belong to his other victims. I'm gonna set up patrols throughout Midvale and I'm sending some more uniforms to the hospital just to be safe.</em>
</p>
<p>"Thanks Maggie"</p>
<p>
  <em>No problem Little Danvers. Go be a hero.</em>
</p>
<p>Kara smiled and hung up. Lena was watching Kara anxiously and Kara was struck again at the beauty of the woman before her. Kara swallowed thickly and shoved down the swooping feeling in her heart.</p>
<p>"Lex has gone to ground. He had a head start though so we will get him"</p>
<p>"Head start?"</p>
<p>"Yeah he came back to the hospital whilst you were asleep to try finish the job." Kara pulled back her sleeve to show the bandage wrapped around her forearm "I stopped him and got this as he was escaping". Lena felt a range of emotions at seeing the bandage, immediately it was guilt that she had gotten hurt protecting her, then an overwhelming swell of affection for the woman, who despite the danger was for some reason determined to keep her safe, and finally anger. Anger at her brother for trying to hurt or take away the only good thing Lena had in her life.</p>
<p>Lena reached for Kara, who leaned closer towards her. Her delicate fingers held Kara's wrist whilst the other hand traced the bandage carefully. Her green eyes were sparkling with tears and she swallowed hard. "Looks like you are my guardian angel after all" she said looking up into Kara's blue eyes. There was some sort of unspoken tension in the air between them and they were closer than would be considered professional or necessary. Kara's heart began to pound in her ears and the butterflies came back in full force. Lena's eyes flicked down to Kara's lips before fixing back on her eyes. Kara licked her lips and felt the overwhelming urge to kiss her. As Kara was just plucking up the courage to lean forward the door to the room burst open and an irritated looking Alex walked in. Both Lena and Kara jerked backwards, with Lena clearing her throat awkwardly and staring at her intertwined hands. Alex just arched an eyebrow at Kara but thankfully did not address what she had walked in on. Instead she turned to Lena.</p>
<p>"Miss Luthor, I have a plan to draw your brother out but we need your help"</p>
<p>Lena's head snapped up and she nodded vigorously. "What do you need me to do?"</p>
<p>Alex raised her eyebrows and nodded, seemingly impressed at Lena’s eagerness to assist. “I need you to draw him out”</p>
<p>“Okay” “No!” Lena and Kara said together. Kara’s eyes widened as she stared panicked at Lena.</p>
<p>“No Alex! What are you thinking?!” Kara strode forward and gripped Alex’s biceps tightly “She could die!”. Alex tried to shrug Kara off and opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by an oddly calm Lena getting up from the bed and approaching the two of them. She placed her hand in the small of Kara’s back. Surprised, Kara released Alex suddenly and staggered back slightly, Lena’s hand remaining steady on her back.</p>
<p>“Kara, he is going to keep looking for me and I cannot stay locked in this hospital forever. By doing this we are just expediting the process. You can’t protect me forever” Lena reasoned calmly and she brought her hand from the small of her back to her shoulder.</p>
<p>A flash of frustration ripped through Kara, there was no way she was letting Lena endanger herself. She had only just met the woman, she wasn’t going to lose her now. “I can frickin’ well try” she growled, causing Lena to withdraw her hand sharply. Kara turned to look at her and immediately softened when she saw the shock and a flash of fear on her face. “Alex can we have a moment please?” she said softly, flicking her eyes to her sister before looking back to Lena. Alex nodded and left the room, softly closing the door behind her. Kara gently placed her hands on Lena’s shoulders and steered her back to the bed, sitting her on the edge and sitting on the chair in front of her. Kara ducked her head, ashamed she got so angry “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you… I just…” Kara sighed and closed her eyes “I don’t want to put you in danger like that”.</p>
<p>Lena’s green eyes locked on to Kara’s “You won’t be putting me in danger. I know you will keep me safe”</p>
<p>Kara sniffed “What if I’m too late? Lena I – I haven’t even had the chance to get to know you”</p>
<p>Lena smiled fondly and lifted her hand to stroke Kara’s cheek, she leaned into the touch, her eyes closing and a contented hum escaping her throat. “I’ve never had potstickers” Lena whispered. Kara’s eyes opened, confused. “I would like to win a Nobel prize one day. I want to get married, I never really thought about having kids but I’m not adverse to the idea. Oh… and I am very in to women.” Kara blinked and blushed when she realised Lena was answering her rambling questions from when she had woken up, the tips of her ears turning an adorable shade of red.</p>
<p>“There, you know a bit more about me. How about, after this is all over, you take me to try potstickers and we get to know each other a little more?”</p>
<p>Kara nodded and smiled widely before pulling Lena into a tight hug. She melted into Kara’s embrace, memorising the feeling of safety before she threw herself into the lion’s den. They stayed like that for a few moments, neither moving before Lena once again pulled away.</p>
<p>“Go get your sister. I’m ready.”</p>
<p> </p>
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<p> </p>
<p>Kara sat in the intelligence van with Alex, greedily eating fried chicken and staring at the screen showing the front door to Lena’s hotel room. It was agreed that it would be far too suspicious if Lena was to just return home without any police protection after the second attempt on her life in the hospital, so she booked a hotel room using the money left to her by Lionel in the account in her mother’s name. Winn had reasoned that Lex must have found out about the account and used it to track her down. Lena was due to arrive at any moment, Kara having insisted that Lena be taken to the safehouse in a marked police cruiser. The officer had notified Kara that handover from the hospital had been successful and that they were 20 minutes out from the hotel. The police cruiser pulled up in front of the hotel right on schedule, and Kara breathed a sigh of relief. Alex rolled her eyes and shook her head “you’ve got it bad”.</p>
<p>Kara took a bite of a drumstick aggressively and mumbled “shut up” with her mouth full and turned to watch the screen. Lena pulled out her bag from the back of the cruiser and shook the hand of the officer before making her way into the hotel and up to her room. The next few hours were quiet, with Lena making a room service order at around 7pm. Alex had posted a plain clothes officer in the hotel and contacted them to vet the blonde haired, pimply waiter that was set to deliver Lena’s food. The waiter pushed the trolley of food through the hotel, waiting almost 5 minutes for the lift to arrive. Bored, Alex and Kara were throwing popcorn into each other’s’ mouths and scoring each other by distance. Kara straightened when she spotted the waiters cart and the bald head of the waiter appear around the corner and walk towards Lena’s door. Kara watched the waiter knock on the door and turn the cart so his back was to the door and he could pull it through after him. The door opened and immediately the waiter backed into the room, pulling the trolley with him before it closed behind him.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Lena whiled the hours away by answering emails from her students and exchanging emails with Reggie. He had come to find her just as she was to be discharged from the hospital and reiterated his offer for her to join as a Medical Examiner. He planned to reduce his hours to part-time when she joined and then to eventually retire, giving her the chief Medical Examiner position. Lena was incredibly flattered and had even let him give her a hug before she left. She sat back in her chair and looked out the window of the hotel and into the night. Despite the danger she was in, she had never felt so content, her life of running was almost over and she would be able to build a life here and settle down. She could imagine her working here, assisting the enigmatic Detective who had made a home for herself in her heart - she could imagine thriving here. Her stomach growled at around 6:30 so she went on the hunt for the room service menu. After a bit of thought, she settled on a burger and a glass of chardonnay, if she was going to die tonight she was going to die with a belly full of greasy food and good wine, god damnit!</p>
<p>She placed the order and waited for it to arrive, opening her laptop back up and using the time to catch up on her marking. She was in the middle of reading a particularly interesting passage from the essay of one of her more astute students when her room service arrived and knocked on the door. She picked up her laptop in her hands and walked blindly towards the door, opening it one handed and turning back towards the table, her gaze never leaving the screen in front of her. “I’ll be with you in a second, just finishing this”. She heard the click of the door as the waiter allowed it to close behind him and he responded “Oh don’t stop on my account”. Time seemed to slow as she watched the laptop fall from her hands with a crash on the floor. She whirled around and stared aghast at the sight of her brother, a triumphant smile on his face, twirling a sharp slender knife in his fingers.</p>
<p>Lena tried to remain calm and began to slowly back away from him “Good to see you Lex. I hear you have developed your criminal repertoire since I left”. She tried to exude confidence but she couldn’t help the small shake in her voice from shining through. He smirked smugly “yes my art has developed quite significantly. I suppose I have you leaving to thank for that. But I could never get my canvases to look quite right. None of them were you.”</p>
<p>“Yes well, you know what they say, perfection is hard to find” the back of Lena’s thighs hit the table as she retreated, he had started to close the gap between them slowly, causing Lena’s panic to increase and bile rise in her throat.</p>
<p>He chuckled darkly “Indeed. Although you have covered up my mark on you. I am going to have to find somewhere nice in order to replace it. Perhaps your inner thigh?” Lena swallowed thickly and darted for the bathroom so she could lock herself away from him but he smoothly stepped into her path tsking and waggling the knife at her “ah, ah, ah, there is no point acting all coy now, I know you have been aching for me for years”. Lena wrenched the lamp of the bedside table, pulling the plug from the wall, and launched it at Lex’s head. It missed its mark slightly, instead hitting him square in the chest. He coughed as the wind was knocked out of him and Lena tried to use that to escape around him and out the door. He recovered quickly, catching her around the waist and holding her against his body, he took his knife and dragged it along her thigh, cutting easily through her jeans and leaving a long gash in her leg. “behave for me Lena or I will have to keep cutting and it’s a shame to waste such precious space for such inelegant work.”</p>
<p>She struggled in his grip, desperately wishing she had actually invested in those self-defence classes she had considered purchasing. She stomped on his foot hard, likely crushing several of his metatarsals but his grip didn’t loosen. Instead he slammed the butt of his knife into her temple, causing her to fall limp in his arms and become disoriented. She was vaguely aware of the tearing of duct tape and her hands being bound before she was lifted up. Her thoughts turned to Kara, did she even know that she was in trouble? Or had he killed her when trying to get to her? Tears rolled down her cheeks as she felt herself being pushed through the window and her falling in a heap on the metal fire escape her head slamming hard on the metal grating. Her last thought was of kind blue eyes when her vision darkened and she lost consciousness.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Keep me safe</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Lena has been kidnapped by the Ripper and Kara is in hot pursuit. Can Kara get to Lena in time to save her? Will she be reunited with her love?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The moment you have all been waiting for... the Rippers capture! No of course you don't actually care about that, you just want the smut you thirsty beasts ;) Enjoy</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kara waited for the waiter to leave the room, a strange sense of foreboding building in her stomach. He was taking an awfully long time just to deliver food Even if she had engaged him in polite conversation he should have only been in the room for a few moments but 5 minutes later and he still had not returned. Her leg jiggled nervously and she tapped her fingers rhythmically on the desk. She had the nagging feeling that she had missed something incredibly important, something about the waiter that she should have picked up upon. She turned to Alex, who was playing flappy bird on her mobile idly “Alex, what colour hair did Graham say the waiter had?”.</p><p>Alex looked up from her game and frowned, pausing a moment to think before answering. “Blonde I think. Why?” Kara’s stomach dropped like a stone and it felt like she had been doused with ice cold water. The waiter who had entered Lena’s room was bald.</p><p>She fumbled with her radio, barking orders down it as she began frantically moving around the van to retrieve her vest and weapon “All units, move on to Lena’s room now. Do <em>not</em> enter until I get there. I repeat, <em>Do not</em> enter until I get there, out”</p><p>The crackles of various affirmatives floated from the radio as Kara pulled on her bullet-proof vest swiftly and jumped out of the van. Alex stumbled out after her, pulling on her own vest as she ran. “Kara! What’s going on?” She yelled after her. Ignoring her sister she burst through the glass double doors and into the lobby of the hotel. A bank of elevators lined the marble walls in front of her and a family pulling suitcases were waiting at an elevator whose doors were just about to open.</p><p>Kara watched as the doors to the elevator slid open smoothly and the family recoiled in horror. The father screamed and the mother grabbed her two children and covered their eyes, moving away from the elevator to reveal the slumped and bloodied body of the blonde waiter. It was painfully obvious that his neck had been slashed open, and even from this distance Kara could see how deep the cut was. There was no way the boy was still alive.</p><p>A pair of officers skidded into the lobby from a side door, almost falling over in shock when seeing the body of the young man lying limply in the elevator. Kara shouted to them to secure the scene and ensure that no-one leaves before turning to the stairs and setting off at full steam towards Lena’s room, taking the stairs two at a time. Panic clawed at her chest and throat, closing down her airways until she felt she could barely breathe. She had to keep herself under control otherwise she would be no use to Lena. She needed to control the blind terror that gripped her heart when she thought of her trapped alone in a locked room with her psychopathic brother.</p><p>She barrelled round the corner, gun already drawn and ready and saw a few SWAT officers armed with assault rifles were already positioned outside Lena’s door, ready to breach when the order came. Kara gratefully slipped between them and took her place on the left side of the hotel room door. She nodded to the officers to ensure they were all ready before screaming “POLICE” through the door. When she heard no reply she motioned for an officer, who was stood face on with the door, to use the battering ram to breach. With one strong swing the door splintered open and Kara pushed through the entrance first, gun raised, bracing herself for whatever she was about to find. Her stomach dropped when she found an empty room. She and the SWAT team hurriedly checked the bathroom and the wardrobe, one officer even checked under the bed, and found nothing. Kara cursed loudly, bile rising in her throat. She had promised Lena she would protect her and she had failed. Alex had followed her into the room seconds after they had breached and she reached for Kara sympathetically.</p><p>“We will find her” she promised.</p><p>Kara growled “How did he get her out!?”. Alex looked around before her eyes darkened as she Zeroed in on the open window. Kara followed her line of sight and gasped as a gust of wind blew the net curtains into the room. Kara turned back to Alex “I thought these were secured!” she yelled, panicked. Alex just growled in response and muttered something about ‘incompetence’ and someone getting ‘reamed’ for this. Kara rushed to the window and her eyes watered as the cold night air hit her face, obscuring her vision. She quickly wiped them away and looked down onto the street below. Her heart stopped as she saw a flash of a bald head in the streetlights making its way down the fire escape holding a limp woman in a fireman’s lift over her shoulder. “LENA” Kara yelled, causing the man to pause and look up. From so far away she couldn’t make out more than the fact he was white, bald and had a scruffy beard. They stared at each other for a moment before Kara yelled “Let her go!”</p><p>Lex laughed, almost maniacally, and replied “She’s mine Detective”. He spun around on his heel and continued to rush down the fire escape, getting dangerously near the bottom. Panic overcame her once more as she swore loudly and began to climb through the window onto the fire escape to follow them. A warm arm grabbed her wrist as she straddled the windowsill and she turned to see her sister’s concerned face looking back at her. “Kara! There are units posted in the street, they will get to them. He has no where to go! Its not safe to go charging after them!”</p><p>Kara yanked her hand away, anger and nausea rolling in her stomach, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks. “I told them all to come to the room. I thought there was nowhere for him to go. There’s no one down there waiting for them”. Alex’s eyes widened before she cursed loudly, she all but pushed Kara out of the window before turning and barking orders at the SWAT team and the other units over the radio who were scrambling about the hotel. Kara’s boots hit the metal fire escape with a thud before she practically threw herself down the stairs, panting and swallowing the cold night air as it stung her lungs. She used the metal handrail to steady herself, paying no mind to the scrapes she was undoubtably receiving on her palms from the rough surface. Lex had made it off the fire escape, it appeared that Lena had woken and was struggling, as she was no longer on his shoulder and he was dragging her by her bound hands to the van across the road. Lena was screaming and swearing loudly, language that would make a sailor blush, and Kara couldn’t help the swell of pride as Lena fought hard against Lex. Despite everything she had been through, she was still desperate to live.</p><p>Lena slowed Lex’s progress significantly, allowing Kara to gain ground. She was just reaching the final levels when Lex successfully shoved Lena into the back of the van and closed the doors with a thud. He paid Kara no mind as she shouted for him to stop, instead rushing to the driver’s side, hopping in and switching on the engine. The engine roared to life and protested loudly as it was pushed into action, the tyres spinning on the tarmac before gaining traction. The van skidded off just as Kara made it onto the street and she panicked as her love was slipping away.</p><p>Time seemed to slow as she pulled her weapon back from its holster and levelled it with her shoulder. She took a deep steadying breath, focusing through the sight on the tyres of the van. Her heartbeat roared in her ears, drowning out the noise around her as she focused her shot, her last opportunity to save the woman who had crashed into her life so suddenly and stolen her heart from under her nose. Allowing thoughts of Lena to calm her, she took one final breath before firing. She did not register the sound of the shot, her heart still pumping loudly in her ears, and she held her breath waiting to see if her aim was true. What was actually milliseconds felt like hours as Kara waited to see if the bullet found its mark. She breathed a sigh of relief and time seemed to return to normal as the back passenger side tyre exploded in a shower of sparks and rubber. The van dropped heavily onto the rim and Lex quickly lost control as it veered to the right and careened straight into a concrete lamp post. She immediately ran to the drivers side of the vehicle, excitement and apprehension building as she approached. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw the passenger side door open and no one in the cab of the vehicle.  </p><p>Before she could make a move to try and find him, a heavy weight crashed into her, sending her gun flying from her hands. She fell hard to the floor, her head smacking on the tarmac and causing her to see stars. For a moment her vision blurred and she was unable to fight back as rough hands dragged her up to her feet and slammed her into the cold metal side of the vehicle. Kara grunted with pain as her head bounced against the metal but before she could get her bearings the hands snaked around her neck and squeezed tight, blocking her airways and choking her. Adrenalin coursed through her body and her vision cleared to see Lex Luthor staring back at her with a crazed look in his eye. His ice blue eyes were dark and stormy, filled with hate, and his teeth were bared, glinting under the streetlights.</p><p>Fear crawled up Kara’s spine as she desperately scrabbled at his hands, trying desperately to make him release her so she could draw a breath. Her head began to feel like it was exploding as her brain screamed for oxygen and her heart began to beat erratically, trying desperately to give the brain what it needed. Kara knew she had a mere seconds before she passed out, but that it would take four to five minutes for her to die. As a black spot began to grow in the corners of Kara’s vision she prayed that Alex would get to her in time or that he would release her when she was knocked unconscious. Her arms began to feel heavy and sluggish as the dropped limply to her side and she let her thoughts turn to Lena, if she was going to die, she was going to die thinking of those captivating green eyes.  </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Lena was shoved roughly into the back of the van before the doors were slammed shut in her face. She pounded her bound fists against the door, screaming for Kara, praying she could hear her. The stumbled backwards as the van lurched forward, desperately trying to keep her footing. Strangely, Lena found that she wasn’t scared anymore. When she woke up, being dragged down the street by Lex, all she could feel was an ungodly feeling of rage overtake her. Her vision had narrowed and the only thing that mattered in that moment was making sure that Lex did not get what he wanted, that Lex did not win.</p><p>She looked around the back of the now moving van, swaying on her feet as she tried to remain upright, formulating a plan on how she would escape when she heard a single gunshot before she was thrown off her feet as Lex lost control and crashed. Taking advantage of the sudden stop, she scrambled towards the back doors and pulled on the interior handle to try and open them. The doors didn’t budge and she cursed quietly. Before the curse had finished leaving her lips it appeared that the universe had caught wind of her plan and the sound of the remote central locking system clunking as it unlocked filled Lena’s ears. She froze, listening to the movement from the front of the van and the clunk of a door opening. She figured that he was going to try and pull her out of the van again, so she pressed herself against the cool metal wall, preparing to launch herself at him the minute he opened the door with the hope of overwhelming him. After a few seconds there was a loud thunk and the body of the van shook violently as the sound of a body hit the outside of the vehicle. Taking the opportunity, Lena threw herself at the back doors, fumbling with the handles once more. This time, she was able to successfully open the doors and she hopped out, stumbling and falling down onto the tarmac, her bound hands shielding her from the worst of her fall. Grunting and wincing at the pain in her wrists she looked up and saw the glint of a gun right in front of her. She pulled herself to her knees and grabbed it, heavy and cold in her hands, and spun around to face the grunting coming from behind her.</p><p>Her heart stopped when she saw Kara, red-faced with her lips turning blue, being strangled by Lex. The rage returned with a vengeance as she levelled the gun aiming straight for Lex. She had never fired a gun in her life but the thought that she might miss never crossed her mind. There was no hesitation, no question, that she would pull the trigger. When faced with a straight choice between her brother and her love, no-one was going to take Kara away from her.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>A loud crack filled the air, followed by a grunt and suddenly Kara was able to breathe again. Her knees collapsed from under her as the hands released her neck and she crouched on all fours on the floor, retching and gulping cold air. When her brain was able to focus on something other than getting oxygen back into her body she looked up to see Lex was on the floor holding his shoulder and squirming, yelling in pain. She turned her head to find the source of the noise and saw Lena, haloed by the light of the streetlamp behind her, standing with her legs shoulder width apart, hands bound by duct tape, holding Kara’s service weapon aloft. The weapon was still smoking as she breathed heavily, seemingly in a state of shock at what she had done. She didn’t even move when the sound of heavy boots approached and Alex slowly came towards her like someone trying not to spook a wild animal. Lena’s eyes were wide and flashing in the light, fixed on Kara’s with a level of intensity she had never seen before. She looked more like a goddess than she ever had done before, and all Kara could do in that moment was remain on her knees and drink the wild, frightening beauty.</p><p>The weapon was still smoking when Alex carefully wrapped her hands around it and gently pulled it from her grasp. This seemed to break Lena from her trance and she jolted in surprise, looking at Alex with her mouth wide open in surprise. Alex nodded at her slowly and Lena looked back at Kara. Seeing Kara still on her knees she rushed forwards, dropping heavily down in front of her and cupping Kara’s face, eyes raking desperately over Kara’s face and body trying to determine the extent of the damage. She chanted “Kara” repeatedly as her cold fingers traced the lines of her face, pushed her blonde hair away from her face, tears shimmering in her green eyes.</p><p>“I’m okay, I’m okay” Kara croaked, her voice horse, as she sat back onto the hard tarmac and leant against the van, catching her breath. She pulled Lena to sit in front of her and began trying to rip off the duct-tape circling Lena’s wrists, her fingers shaking but dedicated to their task. Once her hands had finally been released from their bindings Kara massaged the skin gently to promote blood flow. They sat in silence together, silent tears streaming down Lena’s face as Kara worked on ensuring every muscle in her hand, wrist and forearms were relaxed. When she was satisfied, she held Lena’s wrists with the inside facing up and placed a soft kiss on the skin there before letting go. Lena’s heart thudded dangerously in her chest and she gave in to the desire to hold Kara tight. She slotted herself between Kara’s outstretched legs and buried her face into her neck, winding her arms around Kara’s waist. Kara shushed her soothingly her hands immediately beginning to rub circles into Lena’s back and stroking her hair. Kara littered soft kisses into Lena’s hair as Lena sobbed into Kara’s neck, pressing tear filled kisses of her own into her skin.  </p><p>Police quickly surrounded Lex and handcuffed him before he had an opportunity to escape. He screamed and snarled at the officers, thrashing violently and demanding they released him. He kicked Alex square in the gut and tried to bite Maggie, earning a rather unprofessional stream of curse words to fall from Maggie’s lips. Alex, rather than chastise her as she should, just snorted as she began to restrain his legs and place a bite mask over his face. When he was finally restrained he was bundled into the back of an ambulance and taken to hospital. Alex was shouting commands, ensuring that a motorcade of armed officers ensured his security at all times.</p><p>Kara ran her hand through her hair and winced as she felt something wet coating her fingers and a white hot pain spread across her skull. She pulled her hand down and saw blood covering her hand, she felt Lena’s head tilt to look at Kara’s hand before she gasped loudly and shouted panicked for a paramedic. Kara mumbled “I’m fine” over and over as paramedics pulled Lena away from her and tried to lift her up to take her to an ambulance. She weakly tried to shrug off the paramedics, wanting nothing more than Lena back in her arms where she knew she would be safe but she was pulled until Lena was no longer in her line of sight and a surge of panic overtook her. “Lena” she grunted to the paramedic, trying to communicate but unable to form the words with her damaged throat. “Lena!” she croaked louder, trying to call out to her, as she was pushed down onto a gurney. She began to thrash, desperately trying to push the hands away from her so she could get back to Lena, she felt like she couldn’t breathe again, like his hands were once again around her throat. The paramedics tried to soothe Kara, but she wasn’t listening, to intent on trying to sit up so she could search for Lena.</p><p>A warm hand brushed her blood soaked hair from her face and Lena’s green eyes came into view “I’m here darling” she murmured, smiling softly. Kara immediately relaxed, able to breathe again, and Kara just stared at Lena, who was stroking her hair and whispering soft comforting words to her. The paramedics took advantage of Kara’s calm to prep her for the journey to the hospital before beginning to wheel the gurney towards the ambulance. Panic clawed at Kara’s chest again at the thought of being taken away from Lena so she reached out and whimpered softly, making sure Lena was following. The ambulance crew looked at Lena questioningly, who nodded, before smiling kindly back down at Kara.</p><p>“It’s okay Detective, she’s coming with you. She will stay close I just need you to let go so we can get you safe in the ambulance okay?” Kara breathed a sigh of relief, closing her eyes and nodding. Her hand slipped down from Lena’s wrist and squeezed her fingers before releasing her. Kara was wheeled to the ambulance but Lena made sure she was in the Detective’s line of sight at all times, smiling softly and whispering comforting words whenever the jolt of the gurney caused Kara to wince. When she was safely in the ambulance the ambulance crew helped Lena into the back of the ambulance and allowed her to sit on the seat next to Kara’s gurney. Kara immediately sought Lena’s hand, who gladly allowed the Detective to lace their fingers together. Kara frowned and whimpered softly again, tugging on Lena’s hand to encourage her closer. Lena leaned in and pressed her forehead against Kara’s and she closed her eyes and sighed contentedly, paying no mind to the quiet coo’s and whispers of ‘that’s so damn cute’ coming from the ambulance crew.</p><p>She opened her eyes again to see Lena looking at Kara softly, their foreheads still pressed together, with a small blush across her cheeks and neck. Kara was struck once more with how beautiful this woman was. She giggled to herself, which caused Lena to pull back to sit more comfortably with a bemused smile on her face. Kara thought back on Alex’s word’s earlier, she definitely had it bad. She realised that she had fallen hard and fast for this woman, which would usually terrify her, but looking into those green eyes, full of soft warmth, Kara somehow knew she didn’t need to be afraid.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Kara pressed the doorbell firmly before stepping back from the door, fiddling nervously with the stems of the red roses she had brought with her. A shadow moved on the other side of the frosted glass as the owner of the property unlocked the door to open it. Kara’s breath whooshed out of her lungs as she took in the radiant beauty before her. Lena was wearing a black floor length boat neck gown which showed her slender neck and shoulders, the dress perfectly hugged her curves and almost shimmered in the low lighting. Kara’s eyes were drawn to her burgundy lipstick, which Kara desperately wanted to see smeared from a kiss.</p><p>Lena’s eyes raked appreciatively over Kara’s dress uniform, unabashedly checking her out, but she couldn’t hide the blush that spread over her pale cheeks. Lena arched an eyebrow playfully, “You look very handsome darling, but I feel we are rather overdressed for potstickers.”</p><p>Kara grinned sheepishly as she scratched the back of her neck nervously “Well I was told last week that I am getting a commendation for my work on leading the Ripper case, and there’s a ceremony tonight. I thought maybe it would be a nice surprise for me to take you? You were instrumental in cracking the case so you deserve to be there and celebrated too. We can go for potstickers later”. Lena was speechless and her heart was squeezing tightly with emotion, Kara consistently surprised her with how kind and thoughtful she was, every time a wave of love hit her like a freight train. Mistaking Lena’s silence for discomfort, Kara began to panic and babble “I’m sorry it was a stupid idea, why would you want reminding of the hell you went through? Rao I am such an idiot! We don’t have to go, we can just go for potstickers and…”</p><p>Lena chuckled, stood on her toes and pressed a small kiss to Kara’s cheek, leaving a small imprint of her lipstick behind. “That’s very thoughtful darling, I would love to go with you”. A brilliant smile spread over Kara’s face and she handed the roses to Lena.</p><p>“I got these for you”  a small blush passed across her face and the tips of her ears went an adorable shade of red.</p><p>Lena chuckled and wiped her lipstick from Kara’s cheek before taking the roses “I love them thank you”. She pulled out an old bouquet from a vase on her hallway table and placed the roses in it. “That will do until I get back. Come on love, let’s go” Kara shuddered at the new pet name and grinned widely before holding her hand out for Lena to take.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Kara’s smile as she was handed the small bronze medal could have lit up the whole room. Lena whooped loudly and she shot her a wink and threw finger guns in her direction and all Lena could do was roll her eyes and smile widely in return. As she stumbled down the stairs of the stage and back to her seat next to Lena she bundled her up into a tight hug and whispered “I couldn’t have done it without you”. They sat back down to listen to the closing speeches of the presentation ceremony, fingers linked comfortably together as if they belonged there.</p><p>At the close of the ceremony they lazily followed the crowd hand in hand into an adjoining hall with a whole load of tables and a dancefloor. Lena spotted Alex waving frantically from one of the tables on the far right of the room, the table closest to the bar. Kara grinned, pulling Lena by the hand towards her sister, “How did I know we would find you lurking near the bar?” Kara teased, causing Alex to roll her eyes and turn her attention to Lena.</p><p>She leaned forward and surprised Lena with a kind hug “Lovely to see you Lena”</p><p>“Thanks Alex, really good to see you too” she returned the hug stiffly, although nice it wasn’t the same as getting cuddles from the blonde Danvers sister and Lena wasn’t quite used to physical affection yet.</p><p>“Can’t believe you agreed to come to this snooze fest. I’m only here because I have to be” Alex chuckled, gesturing to some chairs welcoming the two women to sit down.</p><p>Lena smiled shyly to Kara “I wouldn’t want to miss Kara getting her commendation”. Kara beamed and puffed her chest proudly, prompting Alex to roll her eyes. The waiters began to come out with the food and the meal was spent with laughter and wine. Lena was quite astonished at the amount Kara could put away, happily finishing both Lena’s and Alex’s leftovers with gusto. The DJ began to play and guests began to mill around on the dancefloor and sway to the music.</p><p>Lena felt a tap on her shoulder and she looked around to see Kara smiling down at her, her hand extended for Lena to take. “Dance with me” she said softly, affection evident in her voice.</p><p>Lena took her hand and allowed Kara to lead her into the middle of the dancefloor “Okay, just to warn you, I was named County Cork’s leading under-18 Tango Champion”</p><p>Kara laughed, a tinkling laugh which took Lena’s breath away “duly noted, I am quite proficient myself, I was once told I could fly on the dancefloor”</p><p>Kara’s hand settled on Lena’s waist and Lena’s on her shoulder, the fingers of their other hand lacing together. They began to sway with the music, Lena’s hips swinging, they turned around the dancefloor, twirling and twisting their bodies moving together as one. Kara spun Lena away from her until both their arms were extended, surprising Lena into a laugh, she pulled her back in and pressed her closer than before, her arms now around Kara’s neck. The music began to crescendo and Kara’s hands tightened around Lena’s middle.</p><p>“Do you trust me?” she whispered into Lena’s ear. Lena pulled back and nodded, even though she was slightly apprehensive at what Kara had planned. At the peak of the crescendo Kara picked Lena up and spun her and Lena shrieked and tipped her head back as they span. Whoops and hollering of approval came from around the room as other guests saw Kara’s stunt but their world had narrowed down to just the two of them. Lena looked down at Kara, whose blue eyes were twinkling with mirth, as she brought her down to the ground. The atmosphere was charged between them as they finished the dance, their bodies closer than ever. Kara’s hands were splayed across Lena’s lower back, dangerously low but just decent enough for public. Lena’s hands were carding through Kara’s soft hair, scratching her scalp and tugging softly. Lena’s heart thundered in her chest so loud she was sure that Kara could hear it and her breathing was quick and shallow from desire.</p><p>Kara leaned in slowly and wetted her lips with her tongue before she hesitated, waiting for Lena to pull away. Impatient for Kara’s lips on hers, Lena closed the gap and their lips slotted together. Nothing prepared her for the feeling of adoration, exhilaration and arousal she would feel from kissing Kara. She had had lovers in the past, particularly during her party years, but Kara kissed like the world was about to end, with all her emotion and passion communicated through her lips. Fire ignited in Lena’s belly and she returned the kiss with equal fervour, deepening it with a swipe of her tongue. Kara’s breath hitched and she smiled against her lips her fingers digging deliciously into her back and pulling her closer. They broke apart panting when they ran out of breath, their foreheads pressed together and giggling quietly together.</p><p>“Do you want to get out of here?” Kara said, her voice husky and her blue eyes dilated so wide that her irises were thin blue lines circling her pupils. Lena nodded quickly before turning to lead them towards the exit, missing Kara’s brilliant smile as she was tugged along behind her. They passed Alex, who was sat flirting with a dispatcher named Kelly. Kara waved gleefully at Alex who rolled her eyes on seeing the two giggling lovers leave. They burst out into the fresh air, panting and laughing, trading sweet kisses as they made their way to the taxi rank hand in hand. They bundled into the taxi, Kara pulling Lena almost into her lap, their bodies pressed as close as the seats would allow. They sat in silence holding hands and memorising each other’s faces in the passing streetlights.</p><p>As soon as Lena unlocked her door she found herself pressed against it, strong arms bracketing her shoulders and a firm thigh pressed into her centre. Their kisses were almost frenzied, hot and messy, and Lena began to lose her sense of time. Her hands bunched into Kara’s dress uniform, the brass buttons pressed against her belly, as she rolled her hips down onto Kara’s thigh. Kara moaned filthily into Lena’s mouth and Lena became acutely aware that her panties were ruined. Lena’s hands shook as she began to unbutton Kara’s uniform, the brass buttons of her jacket cold on her warm fingers. Kara quickly shrugged off the jacket before pressing herself closer to Lena, running her hand down Lena’s hip, through the slit in Lena’s dress and squeezing firmly on her exposed thigh. Lena whimpered at the touch and Kara almost growled in response, pushing her hand further up Lena’s dress until it was gripping just below her hip. Lena could feel her arousal had soaked through her panties and was slowly dripping down her thighs so she pushed back against Kara, freeing herself from the door.</p><p>“Bedroom” she whispered huskily as she grabbed Kara’s hand, pulling her down the hallway to her bedroom. Kara followed her into the room and caught Lena’s hips, preventing her from turning back to face her. Her mouth found its way to Lena’s neck, pressing hot, open kisses on the back and side of her neck. It seemed Lena’s interruption had broken Kara’s frenzy, as her ministrations were more tender and teasing than before. Kara’s hands rode up and splayed across Lena’s belly, just under the curve of her breasts.</p><p>“This okay?” she grunted, flexing her hands deliciously across Lena’s skin.</p><p>“Definitely.” Lena moaned as Kara nipped at the juncture between her shoulder and neck “If it’s not I will tell you. Just… keep going… please” Kara nodded against Lena’s skin and her hands moved to palm Lena’s covered breasts. Lena’s breath hitched and she swore quietly under her breath as Kara kneaded them softly all the while tenderly kissing Lena’s neck and shoulders.</p><p>Kara moved her hands and Lena whined at the loss, before she realised Kara was unzipping her dress. She moved torturously slowly, pulling the zip down inch by inch, taking the time to touch and kiss every newly exposed expanse of skin. Kara was on her knees by the time the dress was fully undone, kissing in the small of Lena’s back and sending shivers running up her spine. Lena whined “Kara, please” as Kara let the dress hang loosely over her shoulders, back open, as she ran her fingers up and down her back gently. Kara stood back on her feet, kissing up Lena’s spine as she went.</p><p>She placed a small featherlight kiss on each of Lena’s shoulders before whispering in her ear “Patience my love. I wanna make you feel good. I wanna take care of you”. Lena felt a tug in her stomach and her heart gripped in her chest. She had never been cared for before, sex had always been transactional, particularly during her wild years and she had distanced herself from all people when she was sober, so this was an entirely new experience for her. This, she realised, was not just sex. They were making love. Tears pricking her eyes, Lena nodded as she felt Kara smile against her skin. Slender fingers hooked under the loose shoulders of her dress and pushed it forward and it dropped in one swift movement, leaving Lena in only her panties and strapless bra. Kara’s fingers traced once again down Lena’s spine to unhook her bra, which also dropped to the floor. Lena could hear Kara’s breathing behind her and her own heart was thundering in her chest. She suddenly felt extremely exposed incredibly self-conscious of the scars criss-crossing over her chest and abdomen. Strong warm hands turned her to face Kara, and she slammed her eyes shut, too afraid to see Kara’s disgust and pity. Tears were running freely now and she choked back a small sob which threatened to break loose. Kara’s fingers found Lena’s chin and tilted it up.</p><p>“Look at me” She whispered and Lena swallowed heavily before opening them and finding Kara’s ocean blue eyes, soft, warm and full of love, staring back at her. She breathed a sigh of relief knowing that the sight of her brother’s marks did not scare Kara away.</p><p>Kara gently pushed Lena back until her knees hit the bed and Lena laid down whilst Kara allowed herself to take in Lena’s body. “Look at you.” She whispered hands stroking Lena’s thighs “So beautiful”. Kara gently shuffled Lena upwards until she was laid properly on the bed and she was straddled over the top of her. Kara’s fingers traced over every scar and pressed a kiss to each mark, sending shivers and bolts of electricity across Lena’s skin. By the time Kara was finished, her skin was on fire and she was rubbing her thighs together, trying to get some release. “You are perfect” Kara whispered before crashing their lips together once more. Lena sucked greedily on Kara’s tongue her trembling hands unbuttoning the shirt of Kara’s dress uniform. Kara shucked off the shirt and bra before helping Lena unbutton her trousers and slide them off. Both now only in their underwear, the feeling of their bodies pressed together was addictive. Kara’s body was hard and soft in all the right ways, her muscles tensing above her as Lena’s fingers explored every inch of her exposed flesh.</p><p>Their bodies moved as one, grinding against each other, both their underwear ruined. Lena slipped her fingers under the waistband of Kara’s boy shorts, tugging gently to indicate she wanted them off. Kara didn’t hesitate, and soon she was completely naked above Lena, her skin glistening with sweat and a pretty flush over her cheeks and shoulders.</p><p>Lena reached up to take a dusty nipple into her mouth and Kara groaned loudly, pressing her body down and grinding against Lena’s thigh, covering it with her arousal. Her other hand found Kara’s other nipple, tugging it gently and rolling it between her fingers. Kara continued to grind on Lena’s thigh, the muscles in her shoulder twitching with every thrust of her hips. Kara growled and her eyes opened again, dark with want, and she grabbed hold of the edge of Lena’s panties and ripped them off of her in a show of strength and desperation. Lena’s breath seemed to woosh out of her chest, and she almost came right there. Kara sat back on her heels, admiring Lena’s glistening folds. She slowly dragged a finger down Lena’s slit, carefully avoiding her clit and circling her entrance. “What do you need baby?” she said, arousal thick in her throat.</p><p>Every stroke of Kara’s fingers was setting her on fire, she needed release, the coil was so tight in her centre that she feared she would come within seconds. “You… please… make me yours” Lena whined, eyes screwing shut and her hips bucking, trying desperately to encourage Kara to touch where she needed. Kara’s breath hitched and she leaned down so she was straddled over Lena, her fingers still lazily stroking her folds before one finger slowly dipped into Lena’s entrance. Lena gasped with pleasure at the intrusion, relishing in the slight burn of the stretch around Kara’s large finger. “God you are so wet. So tight. Such a good girl for me” Lena whimpered at the praise, another fresh wave of arousal washing over her and covering Kara’s fingers. Kara chuckled and slowly thrust with her finger, bringing her thumb to gently circle Lena’s clit. Lena, already overstimulated, bucked at the contact and her mouth dropped open in a silent gasp. Kara increased the speed of her thrusts adding a second finger and then a third as Lena mewled and cried her name.</p><p>Kara adjusted the angle of her thrusts and suddenly it was as if fireworks were going off behind Lena’s eyes. “Yes… Yes… <em>fuck”</em> she screamed as Kara’s fingers brushed the sensitive spot on the inside of Lena’s walls. Lena felt like she was coming to the edge of a precipice and was being held at the top “I’m so close darling”</p><p>“My good girl. You are being so good, come for me baby” Kara’s thrusts were harder and deeper and Lena came with a shout, waves of pleasure washing over her as Kara fucked her gently through the aftershocks. Lena’s body relaxed and she felt boneless beneath Kara who was looking wrecked, sweat beaded on her neck which Lena wanted to lick off with her tongue. “Golly you’re beautiful” Kara whispered as she gently pulled her fingers from Lena. Lena whined at the loss, her walls clenching around nothing. She lay there for a moment, basking in the afterglow as Kara laid beside her however the sight of Kara licking her cum off of her fingers caused Lena to immediately become aroused once more and she pushed Kara off her to switch positions.</p><p>She sucked at Kara’s pulse point hungrily undoubtedly leaving a mark. Kara moaned once more as Lena kissed and nipped down Kara’s body, flicking her tongue over each nipple as she went. She pressed open-mouthed kisses onto the flesh of each of Kara’s hips before settling herself between Kara’s legs. Lena could smell Kara’s arousal and she was itching to taste. She looked up shyly at Kara, who was looking down at her with wide eyes panting desperately. Lena kissed the inside of her thighs before dragging her tongue in a broad stripe up Kara’s cunt drinking in the salty musky taste. The noise which came from Kara rumbled in her chest and out her throat and Lena thought she could easily get addicted to Kara’s taste and sounds. Her tongue swirled around Kara’s clit before dipping into her entrance, Kara’s walls fluttering around Lena’s hot tongue. “<em>Fuck”</em> Kara whispered and Lena grinned, she didn’t think she had ever heard the straight laced detective swear before and the sound was glorious. Kara began to grind her hips mercilessly, chasing the pleasure as Lena latched onto her clit and sucked hard. Kara’s arousal was dripping down her chin and onto her chest as Lena focused her attention on fucking Kara with her tongue, bringing her finger down to circle Kara’s clit. Hands grasped Lena’s hair and fingers clenched and unclenched, scratching her scalp as she was coming closer. The rhythm of Kara’s hips became unsteady as Kara got closer to the edge and her thighs tightened around Lena’s head. Lena moaned into Kara and the vibration was enough to push her over the edge as she came with a silent scream and a full body shudder. Lena lapped up Kara’s cum greedily, circling Kara’s clit as she guided her through her orgasm. Once Kara’s body relaxed Lena kissed slowly up her belly and chest, snuggling cosily into Kara’s arms with her head resting on her shoulder. Kara sighed contentedly and ducked her head to capture Lena’s lips into a slow, sensual kiss.</p><p>“That was amazing” she whispered, stroking Lena’s hair and pressing kisses into it. Lena smiled and hummed her agreement. There was a moment of quiet as they both basked in the post coital glow. Suddenly Kara chuckled and pulled Lena in tight.</p><p>“What?” Lena mumbled, snuggling deeper into Kara’s chest.</p><p>“Suppose we need to talk about that marriage thing now” Kara chuckled before she was hit squarely in the face by a pillow. </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have a few ideas bouncing around for a sequel, maybe turn these two dorks into a crime fighting duo. Not sure if I am going to do anything with it yet. If anyone has any ideas or thinks they would like to read that let me know! Comments and Kudos welcome!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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